LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



DDD17373D43 




JOHN H. HOOPER 
HISTORIAN 



A 
of the 

CELEBRATION OF THE TWO 
HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH 
ANNIVERSARY of the SETTLEMENT 
OF MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS 

3fune j^ttneteen flunUreli 



Prefaced by a brief History of the Town 

and City from the day of settlement, 

by John H. Hooper. 



•' Those who do not look upon themselves as a link 
connecting the past with the future do not perform 
their duty to the world^' 

— DANIEL WEBSTER 



THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 






LIBi^ARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

JUM 28 1906 

C;'oy(itTnt tntty j 
' COPY 8. 



Copyrighted., igob. 



Photographs by Will C. Eddy. 

Half Tone Engravings by American Engraving Co. 

Composition and Press Work by Geo. E. Crosby Company. 



COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION. 



WALTER F. GUSHING, Chairman 
WILL G. EDDY, Secretary 
GHARLES H. LOOMIS 
MOSES W. MANN 
GEORGE B. MEANS 



CONTENTS. 

B 

PAGK 

History of Medford. 

Name and Location ... - 3 

Boundaries 7 

Ponds 9 

Mystic River 10 

Brooks II 

Hills 12 

Medford a Town 13 

Indians 16 

Monuments of the Olden Times 18 

Roads 21 

Landings 24 

Medford Turnpike 24 

Andover Turnpike 25 

Railroads 25 

Street Railroads 25 

Bridges 25 

Middlesex Canal 28 

Trade and Manufactures 31 

Fisheries 32 

Ship Building in Medford 33 

Distilleries 37 

Brick Making 38 

Wagon Building 39 

Wellman Sole Cutting Machine Company .... 39 

Whyte's Wire Works 40 

Bakeries 40 

Mills 40 

Slavery in Medford 42 

Taverns 43 

Military History 46 

Public Schools 53 



Vi CONTENTS. 

FAOB 

History of Medford. — Continued. 

Private Schools and Academies 5^ 

Public Library 59 

Ecclesiastical History. 

The First Parish 6i 

Places of Early Public Worship Occupied by the First 

Parish 63 

The Second Congregational (Trinitarian) Society . . 64 

The Third Congregational Society 65 

The First Baptist Church of Medford 65 

The Methodist Episcopal Church 66 

The First Universalist Society 67 

Grace Church (Episcopal) 67 

South Medford Baptist 68 

Union Congregational Church 68 

St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church 68 

West Medford Christian Union 69 

West Medford Congregational Church 69 

Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church 70 

West Medford Baptist Church 70 

Shiloh Baptist Church 70 

St. Raphael Parish 70 

Bethany Methodist Episcopal Church 71 

Hillside Universalist Church 71 

Methodist Episcopal Church at Hillside 71 

Medford Fire Department 71 

Engine No. i 72 

Engine No. 2 73 

Engine No. 3 73 

Washington Engine No. 4 73 

The Old Grasshopper 74 

Medford Police Department 74 

Street Lights 74 

Almshouses »g 

Trust Funds yc 

Burying Places 77 

Salem Street Cemetery yy 

Cross Street Cemetery 78 

Oak Grove Cemetery 70 

Sewerage System go 



CONTENTS. VU 

PAGE 

History of Medford. — Continued. 

Societies 80 

Financial Institutions 82 

Water Supply 82 

Town and City Hall 83 

Tufts College 84 

Medford a City 85 

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION. 

Inception and Development 91 

Votes of Historical Society 91 

Votes of City Government 91 

Act of the Legislature 93 

Organization. 

List of Committees 96 

Wednesday, June 14, 1905. 

Unveiling of Capt. Isaac Hall Tablet 103 

Inscription on Tablet 103 

Eben F. Thompson, Address of 104 

Mayor Michael F. Dwyer, Address of 105 

David H. Brown, Address of 106 

Moses W. Mann, Address of 107 

Letter from Mrs. Harriott Magoun Kendall 108 

Thursday, June 15, 1905. 

Literary Exercises. 

Program 109 

Introduction of President of the Day by Mr. David H. Brown in 

Address of Welcome by Mayor Michael F. Dwyer . . . 112 
Address by the President of the Day, Hon. William Cushing 

Wait 113 

Oration by Rev. Nehemiah Boynton, D.D 115 

Poem by Hon. William Everett 125 

Commemoration Ode by Mrs. Annie Hall Gleason . . . 130 

The Banquet, 

Introductory 133 

Mayor Michael F. Dwyer, Address of 135 



viii CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Anniversary Celebration. — Continued. 

J. Mott Hallowell, Address of 137 

Rev. Nehemiah Boynton, D.D., Address of 138 

Edgar O. Achorn, Address of 141 

Samuel J. Elder, Address of 144 

Samuel W. McCall, Address of 146 

Dean George Hodges, Address of 147 

Rev. Frederick W. Hamilton, D.D., Address of 150 

Hon. William Cushing Wait, Address of 152 

Hon. William B. Lawrence, Address of 153 

David H. Brown, Address of 157 

Rev. Maurice A. Levy, Address of 158 



Friday, June 16, 1905. 

School Exercises. 

Entertainment at Opera House 165 

Mayor Michael F. Dwyer, Address of 166 

School Exhibit 168 

Unveiling of Gov. Brooks Tablet 173 

Inscription on Tablet 173 

Dr. Moses Greeley Parker, Address of 174 

Mayor Michael F. Dwyer, Address of 175 

Charles S. Baxter, Address of 177 

Francis H. Appleton, Address of 178 

Miss A. L. Goodrich, Address of 179 

Charles K. Darling, Address of 180 

David H. Brown, Address of 182 

Rev. Louis W. Hicks, Address of 183 

Carnival on Mystic Lake 189 



Saturday, June 17, 1905. 

Parade, Roster of iq. 

Canoe Meet loo 

Athletic Sports 203 

Fireworks 204 



CONTENTS. IX 

PAGE 

Anniversary Celebration. — Continued. 

Sunday, June i8, 1905. 

Special Church Services. 

Mystic Congregational Church 207 

First Universalist Church 211 

First Baptist Church 217 

West Medford Congregational Church 222 

Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church 223 

Sunday Evening Service at Opera House 232 

Rev. Henry C. DeLong, Introductory Address 233 

Rev. George M. Butler, Address on "Education" . . . . 235 

Rev. Clarence L. Eaton, Address on ''Democracy" . . . 237 

Rev. Frank I. Paradise, Address on "Philanthropy" . . . 239 

Rev. Maurice A. Levy, Address on "Patriotism" .... 242 

Committee Reports. 

Press Committee 247 

Invitations Committee 249 

Historic Sites Committee 251 

List of Tablets ^rr 251 

^^List of Tablets Previously Placed 254 

DecOTations Committee ^ 254 

Loan Exhibition Committee 256 

Hospitality Committee 258 

Guides Committee 258 

Music Committee 259 

Treasurer's Report 260 

Auditor's Report 261 

Votes of Executive Committee 261 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



FACING 
PAGE 



John H. Hooper Title ^ 

Map of Medford, by John H. Hooper 3 -^ 

Portion of Winthrop's Map, about 1633 4 

Map of William Wood 6 , 

Map of Winthrop's Ten-Hills Farm, 1637 8 

Mystic River 10 

Marble, or Meeting-House Brook 14 ■ 

Peter Tufts House, about 1680 18 

Jonathan Wade House, about 1685 20 

Bridges on Mystic River 24 

Middlesex Canal Locations in Medford 28 

Medford Ship-Builders 32 

Building of the Ship " Pilgrim " 34 

Medford Distillery and Richard Sprague House 36 

Royall House 42 - 

Thomas Secomb House, 1756 44" 

Military Group 46 

Medford Historians, — Helen Tilden Wild, Moses Whitcher 
Mann, Rev. Charles Brooks, James M. Usher, Elizur 

Wright 54 

Tufts House, about 1709 62-/ 

Two Famous Stairways yo^ 

Group of Prominent Medford Men" 76- 

City Buildings and Home of Thatcher Magoun 2d 82 . 

General Samuel C. Lawrence, First Mayor of Medford . . . 86' 

David H. Brown, Chairman of the Executive Committee ... 90 ■ 
Members of the Executive Committee — Will C. Eddy, Secre- 
tary ; Walter F. Gushing, Treasurer ; William E. Crosby, 

Charles B. Dunham, George B. Means 94 

Members of the Executive Committee — Wilton B. Fay, Ex- Mayor 
Lewis H. Lovering, Edward W. Teele, Clififord M. Brewer, 

Josiah R. Teel 96 - 



Xll ItLTJSTRATIONS. 

Members of the Executive Committee — Charles R. Byram, 
Charles H. Morss, Rosewell B. Lawrence, Edmund H. Pen- 

nell, Benjamin F. Fenton 98 

Members of the Executive Committee — David R. Harvey, 
Allston P. Joyce, Ex-Mayor Charles S. Baxter, John W. 

Enwright, Charles H. Brown 100 

Hall Tablet -: 102 

Mayor Michael F. Dwyer 108 

Literary Exercises — Mrs. Daniel A. Gleason, Odist; Judge 
William Cushing Wait, President Literary Exercises; Rev. 
Nehemiah Boynton, Orator; Prof. Leo R. Lewis, Chairman 
Music Committee; Rev. Henry C. DeLong, Chairman Lit- 
erary Committee 112 

The Armory 132 

Banquet Committee — Charles H. Loo mis, Chairman; James 
Mott Hallowell, William Leavens, Ernest B. Moore, Secre- 
tary and Treasurer; Edward P. Boynton 136 

Middlesex Fells 152 

Middlesex Fells 158 

Group of Educators — Lorin L. Dame, Miss Hettie F. Wait, 

Charles Cummings, Benjamin F. Morrison, Rufus Sawyer 164 
Public Schools — High, Washington, Lincoln, Franklin and 

Brooks 168 

Gov. John Brooks 172 

Dedication of the Brooks Tablet 178 

Mystic Lake 188 

High Street Decorations 192 

Medford Savings Bank 194 

Ministers who Observed Anniversary — Rev. Clarence L. Eaton, 
Rev. Maurice A. Levy, Rev. George M. Butler, Rev. 

Sylvester S. Klyne, Rev. Burt Leon York 206 

Forest Street 210 

Medford Churches where Anniversary Exercises were held . . 222 
British Flag Captured at Lexington, April 19, 1775 .... 228 

Brick Wall Built by Slave, West Medford 230 

Home of Rev. Charles Brooks, Father of the Normal School . 234 
Medford Square about 1870 25a 



To the Executive Committee of the Two Hundred and Seventy-Fifth 
Anniversary of the settlement oj Medjord. 

Gentlemen: — 

At your request I have prepared a brief history of Medford, from the 
settlement of the town to the date of the Two hundred and Seventy-Fifth 
Anniversary, (June 15, 1905). The Umited space allowed has excluded 
much that is of interest. 

In preparing this history I have drawn upon State, County and Town 
records, articles published in the Medford Historical Register, Brooks's 
and Usher's histories of Medford, Medford Past and Present and numer- 
ous other pubUcations. 

Very respectfully, 

JOHN H. HOOPER. 
Medford, February i, 1906. 




_ ORIGINAL TOWN BOUNDS 
_._. PRESENT BOUNDS 

MAP 

MEDFORD 

SHOWING 

TERRITORY ANNEXED TO AND SET OFF 

THFREFROM, TOGETHER. WITH ANCIENT 

ROADS AND LANDMARKS 

BY JOHN H. HOOPER. 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 

BY JOHN H. HOOPER. 

Medford, a City of Middlesex County, and Commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts, is situated about five miles N.N.W. from the State House in 
Boston. It borders on Somerville, Arhngton, Winchester, Stoneham, 
Maiden and Everett. It received the name of Medford from Governor 
John Winthrop and his associates, who arrived in Salem, from England, 
in May, 1630, and not being satisfied with that locality as a place of set- 
tlement, came to Medford and vicinity, in June of that year. 

The settlement of Medford is said to have taken place in Jxme, 1630, 
but there is sufficient evidence to prove that Mr. Cradock's men had 
established themselves here as early as 1629. 

Mention is made of Mr. Cradock's settlement, in the Records of 
Charlestown, as follows: — " Among others that arrived at Salem at their 
own cost were Ralph Sprague with his bretheren Richard and William 
who with three or four more, by joint consent and approbation of Mr. 
John Endicott, Governor, did the same summer of Anno 1628 (9), under- 
take a journey from Salem, and travelled the woods above twelve miles 
to the westward, and lighted of a place situated and lying on the north 
side of Charles river, full of Indians, called Aberginians. * * * 
They found it was a neck of land generally full of stately timber, as was 
the main, and the land lying on the east side of the river called Mistick 
River from the farm Mr. Craddock's servants had planted, called Mis- 
tick, which this river led up unto. And indeed, generally all the Country 
was an uncouth wilderness, full of timber." 

An illustration of the condition of the country is afforded by an inci- 
dent that happened to the Governor and which is related, in Winthrop's 
Journal, page 74, vol. i, (1853). " Oct. 11, 1631. The Governor 
being at his farm-house at Mistick, walked out after supper, and took a 
piece in his hand, supposing he might see a wolf, (for they came daily 
about the house, and killed swine and calves, etc.;) and, being about 
half a mile off, it grew suddenly dark, so as, in coming home, he mistook 
his path, and went till he came to a httle house of Sagamore John, which 
stood empty. There he stayed, and having a piece of match in his pocket, 
(for he always carried about him match and a compass, and in the sum- 
mer snake weed,) he made a good fire near the house, and lay down upon 



4 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

some old mats, which he found there, and so spent the night, sometimes 
getting wood, but could not sleep. It was (through God's mercy) a 
warm night; but a little before day it began to rain, and having no cloak, 
he made shift by a long pole to climb up into the house. In the morning 
there came thither an Indian squaw, but perceiving her before she had 
opened the door he barred her out; yet she stayed there a great while 
essaying to get in, and at last she went away, and he returned safe home, 
his servants having been much perplexed for him, and having walked 
about, and shot off pieces, and hallooed in the night, but he heard them 
not." 

The dwelling place of Sagamore John, as shown on Wood's map, 
pubUshed in 1634, was on the westerly slope of Walnut Tree Hill (now 
College Hill) near where the Indian remains were found about the year 
1879; by employees of the Mystic Water Works in building a street. 
These remains were found on Capen Street near Quincy Street. 

Deputy Governor Thomas Dudley writing to the Countess of Lincoln 
under date of March 28, 1631 says:—" * * * * But, 
bearing these things as we might, we began to consult of our place of 
sitting down; for Salem, where we landed, pleased us not. And, to that 
purpose, some were sent to the Bay to search up the rivers for a con- 
venient place; who, upon their return, reported to have found a good 
place upon Mistick, but some others of us, seconding these, to approve 
or dishke of their judgement, we found a place liked us better, three 
leagues up Charles River, * * * * But * * * 
we were forced to change counsel and for our present shelter to plant 
dispersedly ***** some of us upon Mistick which 
we named Meadford." 

Those who, as Governor Dudley writes planted upon Mistick were 
undoubtedly Mr. Cradock's men, and all the early settlers of Medford 
must have been in someway connected with Mr. Cradock's interests. 
There is also a strong probability that the Meadford farm was, from the 
first, intended for Mr. Cradock's use. It is quite clear that no person 
ever was granted land on the north side of the river within the origmal 
limits of Medford, except Mr. Cradock. All rights to property in lands 
proceeded from grants of the General Court. The Court of Assistants, 
Sept. 7, 1630, passed the following: " It is ordered, that no person shall 
plant in any place within the limits of this patent, without leave from 
the Governor and Assistants, or a major part of them." 

William Wood in his " New England's Prospect" published in 1634, 
says in regard to some of the early Bay settlements, " On the north side 



EUSTORY OF MEDFORD. 5 

of Charles River is Charles Towne which is another neck of Land, on 
whose North side runs Mistick River. * * * * ^p higher 
is a broad Bay. ***** Towards the Southwest, 
in the middle of this Bay is a great Oyster-banke ; Towards the North- 
west of this Bay is a great Creeke, upon whose shore is situated the vil- 
lage of Meadford, a very fertile and pleasant place, and fit for more in- 
habitants than are yet in it. This Towne is a mile and a half from Charles 
Towne and at the bottom of this Bay the River beginnes to be narrower, 
being but a halfe of a quarter of a mile broad, * * * * " 
" * * * * * The next Towne is Misticke, which is 
three miles from Charles Towne by land, and a league and a halfe by 
water. It is seated by the water side very pleasantly; there be not many 
houses as yet. At the head of this River are great and spacious Ponds, 
whither the Alewives preasse to spawne. This being a noted place for 
that kind of Fish, the English resort thither to take them. On the West 
side of this River the Governor hath a Farme, where he keeps most of 
his Cattle. On the East side is Maister Craddockes plantation, where 
he hath impaled a Parke, where he keeps his Cattle, till he can store it 
with Deere. Here likewise he is at charges of building ships. The last 
yeare one was upon the Stockes of a hundred Tunne, that being finished 
they are to build one twice her burden. Ships without either Ballast or 
loading, may floate doune this River; otherwise the Oyster-banke would 
hinder them which crosseth the Channell." 

It would appear from the above that when Mr. Wood visited New 
England, Meadford and Misticke were two distinct settlements, and 
that Meadford was the settlement nearest Charlestown. He was per- 
haps misled by the fact that Meadford was sometimes called Mistick, 
while there was another Mistick lower down the River that answers to 
his description of the village of Meadford. The records of the General 
Court say that "19 Oct. 1658. In answer to the petition of the inhabi- 
tants of Misticke, the Court having heard what the inhabitants of Charles 
Towne and Misticke could say, doe determine that the inhabitants of 
Misticke shall have half proportions with the rest of the inhabitants of 
Charles Towne, in the Commons lately divided at Charles Towne. Mis- 
ticke River, except Charles Towne leave the inhabitants of Misticke and 
their lands to Maulden, and Maulden accept them to such liberties of com- 
monage with them, as other theire inhabitants have.' ' This order of the 
Court had no reference to Meadford. The land north of Mistick River, 
between North River and Three Mile Brook on the West, and Boston's 
land (now Chelsea) on the east, was called Mistick side. After the es- 



6 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

tablishment of the town of Maiden, a portion of the present territory of 
Everett, still remained a part of Charlestown, and retained the old name 
of Mistick side. 

Mr. John Josselyn who made two voyages to New England, in writing 
of Meadford and Mistick gives an account so nearly like that of Mr. 
Wood's as to lead to the belief that he substantially copied from that 
author. 

It is evident that a settlement was made at Medford as early as 1629 
by Mr. Cradock's men and that the place was recognized as belonging 
to Mr. Cradock before the formal grant of March, 1634. In the records 
of the Colony we find that Sept. 28, 1630, one Austin Bratcher (Brad- 
shaw) dying, late at Mr. Cradock's plantation, and an inquest being 
held, the jury found that strokes given by Walter Palmer were occasion- 
ally the means of his death. Palmer was tried in Boston for manslaugh- 
ter, and acquitted. Thomas Foxe, a servant of Mr. Cradock's, having 
so little respect for the Court as to suggest that it was bribed, was sen- 
tenced to be whipped. Mr. Cradock's business in New England was 
transacted by agents. Two of the agents are spoken of in the early 
records. From an affidavit in the Middlesex County Court, in the case 
of Gleison vs. Davison et. al., Joseph Hill testifies "that about 1638 
Mr. Nic. Davison lived at Meadford House and that Mr. Mayhews 
did not then dwell at Meadford house." The above extract from the 
Colony records confirms the statement that Mr. Cradock was in posses- 
sion of his Meadford plantation prior to March, 1634, and the above 
affidavit shows that his farm house was called Meadford house at an 
early date, a name it continued to bear for many years. It was also 
called at times, Mistick House. 

Woburn records say that on the 14th day of the 7th month 1646 
" Edward Converse and Samuel Richardson are appointed to lay out a 
highway between this town and Mistick Bridge, being joined with some 
of Charlestown and some of Mistick House." As late as the year 1680, 
Mistick House is spoken of in the records of the plantation. "22 July 
1680. At a meeting of the Selectmen, Thomas Willows (Willis) was 
chosen Sealer of Measures for the use of the plantation which the law 
enjoins and the Standards to be kept at Mistick House for that use afore- 
said." Also the River-Road was referred to in a deed dated 1657 as 
"The Common Highway leading from the Mansion House (Blanch- 
ard's) into Charlestown Common and Meadford House." 

This Meadford or Mistick House is identical with Mr. Cradock's 
farm house which is shown upon two maps, one supposed to have been 



^njin/mock %ue/r 




MAP OF WILLIAM WOOD 1634 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 7 

made about 1633, under Governor Winthrop's supervision. Upon this 
map is shown a house located within the present Square, and called 
Meadford. Reference is made to it in the margin, in the Governor's 
handwriting. — ''Meadford: Mr. Cradock ferme house." The other 
is a map of Governor Winthrop's Ten Hills farm, bearing date of 1637, 
showing a dweUing house, a great barn and other farm buildings. Mis- 
tick Bridge is shown in its present location. The Great Barn stood 
directly opposite the present location of the Mystic Church, on land now 
owned and occupied by D. W. Lawrence, Esq., and a portion of this 
barn stood within present lines of Salem Street. 

Mr. William Wood, as quoted above, says that "Misticke is seated 
by the water side very pleasantly." 

Enough has been shown from early records to prove beyond any ques- 
tion, that Mr. Cradock's men planted themselves upon Mistick, alias 
Meadford, as early as 1629, that the location selected was in and about 
Medford Square, on the Highway known as "Salem path to Mistick 
Ford," "close to the waters edge," the ford and the future location of 
the bridge. 

BOUNDARIES. 

The original territory of Medford was entirely siurrounded by the 
Town of Charlestown and was small in extent, compared with that of 
the present day. In March, 1634 (old style) the General Court pro- 
vided that, "All the ground, as well upland as meadow, lying and being 
betwixt the lands of Mr. Nowell and Mr. Wilson on the east; and the 
partition betwixt Mistick Ponds on the west; bounded with Mistick 
River on the south and the rocks on the north, is granted to Mr. Cradock, 
Merchant, to enjoy, to him and his heirs forever." The following year 
in order to make the northerly bounds more definite, the Court provided 
" That the land formerly granted to Mr. Cradock, Merchant, shall ex- 
tend a mile into the Country from the River side in all places." The 
northerly bounds above described were not the bounds of Mr. Cradock's 
farm as finally agreed upon. It was impractical to make a boundary Une 
to correspond with the bounds defined by the General Court. As a con- 
sequence, under date of October 7, 1640, the General Court voted that 
" Mr. Tynge, Mr. Samuel Sheephard and Goodman Edward Converse 
are to set out the bounds between Charlestown and Mr. Cradock's farm 
on the north side of Mistick River." It was at this time that the north 
bounds of the farm was definitely settled. 



8 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH .^N^NWERSARY. 

This grant to Mr. Cradock was the original bounds of the Plantation 
or Town of Medford, and its area remained unchanged for over one 
hundred years, when a small triangular lot of land, containing about 
40 acres, bordering on the upper Mystic Pond was set oflf from Charles- 
town and annexed to Medford. 

After the death of Mr. Cradock, his heirs sold the Plantation to Mr. 
Edward Collins, of Cambridge. Neither in this sale nor in the original 
grant to Mr. Cradock, was the area of the Plantation mentioned, but 
when Mr. CoUins deeded the Estate in different parcels, the number of 
acres in each parcel was specified in the deeds as follows: — To George 
Blanchard, 30 acres of land called the pine swamp with 4^ acres of up- 
land. To Richard Russell 1600 acres with Mansion House and other 
buildings. To Caleb Hubbart or Hobart, 500 acres. To Thomas 
Brooks and Timothy WTieeler 400 acres, a portion of this 400 acres was 
situated in Charlestown adjoining the upper Mistick Pond and is esti- 
mated to contain nearly 80 acres, so that the number of acres of the origi- 
nal Cradock grant sold to Messrs Brooks and WTieeler, was about 
320, making the total acreage of the Plantation about 2454+ acres. 

The area of the To\\-n of Medford in the year 1754, before any terri- 
tory had been annexed from Charlestown, was estimated by Ephraim 
Jones, Stu-\-eyor, to be 2474 acres. This included the triangular lot 
bordering on Mystic Pond. 

Mr. Richard Russell sold of his 1600 acres, three-foiurths part, or 
1 200 acres to Jonathan Wade of Ipswich, but when ^Ir. Wade died and 
his estate was di\dded among his sons, Jonathan and Nathaniel, the in- 
ventory of his estate showed that his Medford farm contained only 900 
acres. There is no record showing that Jonathan Wade, Senior, alie- 
nated any portion of his Medford estate, therefore if this inventory was 
correct the acreage of the Cradock grant would be about 2154^ acres. 

The amount of acreage estimated by ^Ir. Jones, as shown above, 
agreeing so nearly with Mr. CoUins' deeds, leads to the behef that the 
larger amounts were nearer correct. Allowances must be made for the 
imperfections of the Surveys of those early days. 

The western boundary of ^Ir. Cradock's grant was the easterly shore 
of Mystic lower pond. 

For many years the inhabitants of Medford coveted a portion of 
Charlestown's territory, and made several ineffectual attempts to obtain 
it, but on the 17th day of April, 1754, the General Com-t set off from 
Charlestown and annexed to Medford, a tract of land on the south side 
of the River, containing about 760 acres. Also a tract of land bounded 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 9 

southerly on the line between Medford and the Charlestown woodlots, 
easterly on the line between Medford and Maiden, northerly on the hne 
between Medford and Stoneham and westerly on the line between Med- 
ford and Woburn. Both tracts were estimated to contain about 2800 
acres. 

In 181 7 the westerly part of the Wellington farm was set off from 
Maiden and annexed to Medford, and in 1875 the easterly part of said 
farm was set off from Everett to Medford. 

In 181 1 a small parcel of Medford territory on the south side of the 
River, at the junction of Harvard Street and Broadway, was set off to 
Charlestown. In 1850 Medford contributed to the formation of the 
new town of Winchester, and in 1877 a portion of the town was set off 
to Maiden. 

The present computed area of Medford is as follows : — 
Area of city, exclusive of river . . . . 5>352 acres 

or 8.362 sq. miles 

Area included in Middlesex Fells Reservation . . i,o57 acres 

City's holdings in Middlesex Fells Reservation, . . 145 acres 

City's holdings in Brooks Playstead . . . 9.15 acres 

City's holdings in eight small parks and commons 491,266 sq. feet 

City's holdings in Mystic River Reservation . . 207.3 acres 

State's holdings in Mystic River Reservation . . 59 acres 

PONDS. 

There are no ponds entirely within the limits of Medford. A very 
small portion of Spot Pond is situated therein, and only a part of Mystic 
Ponds. The Mystic Ponds were separated by a shoal called the " Part- 
ings." These two ponds are nearly equal in size. No part of them 
was originally within the limits of Medford. They were given by the 
Squa Sachem to Jotham Gibbon of Charlestownin 1636. These ponds 
are in places 80 feet in depth, and the tidal flow in the lower pond is from 
2 to 8 inches. 

The discovery of Spot Pond is related in Winthrop's Journal as follows : 
"February 7-163 1-2. The Governor, Mr. Nowell, Mr. ElHot and others 
went over to Mistick River at Meadford, and going N. and by E. among 
the rocks about two or three miles, they came to a very great pond, hav- 
ing in the midst an island of about one acre, and very thick with trees 
of pine and beech; and the pond had divers small rocks, standing up 
here and there in it, which they therefore called Spot Pond. They all 
went about it upon the ice. From thence (towards the N. W. about 



lO TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

half a mile) they came to the top of a very high rock, beneath which 
(towards the N.) lies a goodly plain, part open land, and part woody, 
from whence there is a fair prospect, but it being close and rainy, they 
could see but a small distance. This place they called Cheese Rock, 
because when they went to eat somewhat, they had only cheese ; (the 
Governor's man forgetting, for haste, to put up some bread.)" 

MYSTIC RIVER. 

The source of this river is in the Mystic Ponds and their tributaries. 
The ancient spelling of the name of the river was "Mistick," although 
it was sometimes called Medford River. The origin of the name is 
unknown. It is a tidal stream throughout its entire length. The rise 
of the tide at the bridge at the center of the City being from 9 to 12 feet. 
It is clear of shoals or rocks, thus making it eminently a ship building 
river. From the time of the first settlement of the town, it became the 
great highway from Medford to Charlestown and Boston. Most of the 
business done on the river was by means of open boats or lighters. These 
boats or lighters were propelled by sails and oars, also by drag ropes. 
The tortuous course of the river made navigation extremely laborious, 
one bend of the river known as " Labor-in- vain" was so difl&cult of navi- 
gation, that in the spring of 1761 a number of the inhabitants of the 
town petitioned the Court of General Sessions of the Peace for a new 
highway across a point of salt marsh and fiats in Medford called Labor- 
in-vain point. The petition was granted and the way laid out. The 
town appointed a committee to cut the canal, the work to be done by 
subscription. The committee proceeded to cut the canal, and the work 
was completed during that year. The cutting off of " Labor-in- vain" 
point made the first island in the river within the Umits of the town. 

In 1851 Paul Cxirtis and Jotham Stetson, whose shipyards were above 
Cradock Bridge, finding it difficult to float their vessels around the point 
of land next above the bridge, purchased the lot of land on which the 
new armory stands, and straightened the river by cutting a canal through 
the point, thus making island number two. There was another small 
Island a few rods below Weir Bridge. Whether this island was a natural 
one or otherwise is unknown. It has recently been removed by the 
Metropolitan Park Commissioners, who are making improvements in 
the river in that vicinity. 

At one time Medford had considerable trade with the West Indies 
and with our home ports. It was no unusual sight to see a number of 
vessels in the river and at the wharves. As early as 1648 the vessel 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. II 

"Susan" was cleared for sea below the bridge at Mistick, probably from 
the wharf of Governor Cradock, which was located on the east side of 
Main Street, between the river and land of the Porter Heirs, on land 
now covered by the brick building of Mr. Bigelow, the old skating rink 
property, Boston and Maine R.R. Station, Button's Shoe Store and 
Howard's Drug Store. 

There was a dock (now filled up) in the rear of the above named es- 
tates. It extended into the Porter Estate and was at least loj rods in 
length. This dock was sometimes called "Medford Dock," and was 
undoubtedly the work of Mr. Cradock's agents. 

The Mystic River is fordable in many places above Cradock Bridge, 
there were two regular fords for pubUc travel, one at the Weirs, in the 
west part of the City, and the other above the bridge, in the centre. 
The southerly end of this ford was at South Street, just west of, and op- 
posite to Walnut Street; the northerly end was through land now occu- 
pied by the new armory, that being the landing place known as "the 
bank." As Pasture Hill then formed a part of the northerly bank of 
the river, travellers coming from and going to the eastward, passed along 
the gravel beach that then existed at that point, it being a portion of the 
highway then called " Salem path to Mistick ford." 

The following extract from the journal of Governor Winthrop is of 
interest at this time as it is believed that the incident happened at this 
ford. In 1644 "one Dalkin and his wife, dweUing near Meadford, 
(Meadford House, Gov. Cradock's farm house) coming from Cambridge, 
where they had spent their sabbath, and being to pass over the river at a 
ford, the tide not being fallen enough, the husband adventured over, and, 
finding it too deep, persuaded his wife to stay a while; but, it raining very 
sore, she would needs adventure over, and was carried away with the 
stream past her depth. Her husband, not daring to go help her, cried 
out; and thereupon his dog, being at his house nearby, came forth, and, 
seeing something in the water, swam to her, and she caught hold of the 
dog's tail; so he drew her to the shore, and saved her life." 

Reference has been made to certain changes taking place in the west- 
erly part of the river. Plans have been made by the Metropolitan Park 
Commission, which, when carried out, will make Mystic River one of 
the most beautiful places in the suburbs of Boston. 

BROOKS. 

Whitmore Brook, in West Medford rises in Bare Hill Meadow. It 
crosses High Street near Warren and Canal Streets. It was named for 



12 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Deacon John Whitmore who settled in Medford about the year 1675, 
and through whose land a part of the brook ran. 

Marble or Meeting-house Brook was first named for Thomas Marble, 
a tenant of Mr. Colhns who lived near it. Afterwards, when the second 
meeting-house was built upon its banks, it was called "Meeting-house 
Brook." It crosses High Street at the foot of "Marm Simonds Hill." 
Its main source is in Turkey Swamp. This swamp is now a reservoir 
for the town of Winchester's water supply. 

Gravelly Creek or Pine Hill Brook, rises in the northerly part of the 
City in several meadows, to the west, north and east of Pine Hill. It 
runs close to the easterly slope of the Hill, hence its name. It crosses 
Salem Street and Riverside Avenue a short distance east of the Square. 

Winter Brook crosses Main Street at the foot of Winter Hill. It prob- 
ably received its name from the Hill. It rises in the City of Somerville. 

Two Penny Brook, rises in the City of Somerville near the southerly 
slope of Walnut Tree Hill. It crosses Main Street near a way called 
" Buzzells Lane.' ' Being a small brook explains its name of Two Penny. 
All of these brooks find their way into Mystic River. 

HILLS. 

Pine Hill is the most elevated of the many small elevations in Medford. 
It is in the northerly part of the City, and about one mile from the Square. 
Forest Street runs close by its easterly slope. It commands a fine view 
from its east, south and west sides. 

Pasture Hill, near the Square on the north side of the river, formerly 
abutted upon the river. It is quite a sightly place and has many fine 
dwelling houses located upon it. This hilland Pine hill are the sources 
of the famous red gravel used extensively in past years for walks and 
driveways. 

Hastings Heights, in West Medford, is the property of the City. From 
the top of its stone tower a fine view can be obtained to the south and 
west. 

Rock Hill or The Rocks, as it was formerly called, is just west of 
Marble or Meeting-house Brook and close to the river. It commands a 
good view of the river valley, both east and west. Several fine dwellings 
have, in recent years, been built upon it. 

Walnut Tree Hill or College Hill, as it has been called since Tufts Col- 
lege was located upon it, is situated on the south side of the river, partly 
in Medford, and partly in Somerville. Tradition says it was at one 
time covered with walnut trees, hence its name. It was on the westerly 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD, I3 

slope of this hill that Governor John Winthrop was lost, in the early 
days of the settlement, and was obUged to spend the night in a deserted 
Indian house, an account of which has been previously mentioned. 

The City of Charlestown built upon tliis hill a distributing reservoir 
in connection with its Mystic water supply. When Mystic Pond was 
abandoned as a water supply, this reservoir fell into disuse. 

The Metropohtan Water Commission have in recent years made use 
of it as a distributing reservoir to the water supply of Arhngton. 

The northwesterly slope of Winter Hill is in the southeast part of Med- 
ford,and over it runs Main Street to Somerville and Boston. It was on 
the easterly slope of this hill, not far from the Medford hne that Governor 
John Winthrop built his stone house, a portion of which fell down during 
its construction, by reason of the clay being washed out of the joints of 
the stone during an easterly storm. 

MEDFORD A TOWN. 

In the early years following the settlement, Medford was called by the 
several names of Meadford, Mistick, Mr. Cradock's Farm, Mr. Cradock's 
Plantation and Meadford Plantation, and the name of Plantation was 
continued on the records until 1683-84. 

While the farm or plantation remained in the possession of Mr. Cra- 
dock and his heirs, or in the possession of their successor, Mr. Edward 
CoUins, there was nothing then existing that in any way resembled a 
town government. Taxes were assessed upon the plantation in the 
same proportion as those assessed upon the towns and plantations of the 
rest of the Colony, and such taxes were paid by the proprietors or their 
agents. "At a General Court held in Boston the 22d of the 3rd month 
(called May) 1639, Mr. Mathew Cradock is freed of rates to the Country 
by agreement of the Court, for the year ensuing from this day, in regard 
to his charge in building the bridge, (Mistick Bridge) and the Country 
is to finish it at the charge of the public." 

When Highways were laid out through the plantation, some person 
or persons who represented the proprietors were upon the committee 
charged with the laying out. We have previously quoted from the rec- 
ords of Woburn, showing that in the laying out of a way from that town 
to Mistick Bridge " some of Mistick House" were upon the commit- 
tee. It is evident therefore that at this time Meadford Plantation 
was not a town, but a manor, and further proof of this statement is af- 
forded by the action of the town of Charlestown in bringing suit against 
Mr. Cradock's agent for stopping up Mistick River with a bridge, etc. 



14 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

If Meadford had been a town this suit would hav^e been brought 
against the inhabitants of the town in their corporate capacity, but the 
fact that suit was brought against Mr. Cradock's agent shows that Mead- 
ford was as Manor as above stated. 

This condition of affairs remained unchanged until 1656, when Mr. 
Collins sold to George Blanchard and Richard Russell both of Charles- 
town a portion of his estate, thus dividing the liabiHties of the planta- 
tion. In the year 1660 Mr. Collins sold to Thomas Brooks and Timothy 
Wheeler, both of Concord, about 400 acres of land, most of which was 
situated in the extreme westerly part of the plantation, and in the year 
1661, Mr. Russell sold to Jonathan Wade, Senior, of Ipswich, three- 
fourth part of the lands he purchased of Mr. CoUins. 

None of these purchasers became residents of Medford, but these 
sales further divided the liabilities of the plantation. Mr. Wade's sons 
Jonathan and Nathaniel came to reside in Medford soon after their 
father's purchase. Golden Moore occupied the house standing on the 
Brooks and Wheeler estate, Thomas Fillebrown, the Miller of Menotomy 
Mills resided in Medford, and Thomas Eames occupied the house after- 
wards in the possession of Thomas WilUs near the junction of Arlington 
and Canal Streets. The different interests created by these divisions 
of the plantation required that the individuals who represented those 
interests should meet together to consult in regard to their prudential 
affairs. These meetings were informal, no authority existed for calhng 
the inhabitants of the plantation together. It was in this manner that 
the town meetings of Medford had their origin. 

About this time the orders of the Court conunenced to be issued to the 
inhabitants of Medford. " The 8th of the loth mo. 1664. The Inhabi- 
tants of Meadford were summoned into Court to answer to complaints 
about Mistick Bridge. Golden Moore returned that the Bridge is re- 
paired." (County Records.) 

That meetings of the inhabitants of the plantation were held from 
about 1660 to 1674, does not imply that records were kept of their pro- 
ceedings. It has been held by some persons that a portion of Medford's 
records are lost, but the evidence to be submitted is against such a sup- 
position. 

The so called records of Charlestown are not contemporary records, 
being compiled in 1664 from traditions and personal recollections. If 
so flourishing a town as Charlestown, with some of the most prominent 
men of the Colony resident therein, failed to keep records, what could 
be expected of the one-half dozen farmers who then comprised the in- 




1ARBLE, OR MEETING-HOUSE BROOK 



WILLOWS 
LAWKENCE ESTATE 



BRIDGE 
BORDER ROAD 



CAMERA CLUB, TURKEY SWAMP, 1889 



BROOK 
AT WADE MILL-SITE 



WILLOWS 
LAWRENCE ESTATE 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 1 5 

habitants of Medford ? The following quotation from the history of a 
neighboring town is pecuHarly applicable to Medford's so called lost 
records. "The loss of early town records, so often lamented, may be 
largely due to the fact that they never existed." 

The first recorded meeting of the inhabitants of the plantation was 
held on the first Monday of February, 1674, and the record is spread 
upon "page three of the first book of records. On page i is a record 
dated "upon the 14", the rest of the date is torn off. This record oc- 
cupies one-half the page; on the lowerlhalf of the page is spread a tax rate 
of June 14, 1678, the remainder of the record of that year is spread upon 
page 4. It is probable that the record upon the top of page i is also a 
part of the record of June 14, 1678. On page 2 is a part of the record 

of February 2: 84-85 as follows: — " the names of ye persons from 

ye Town Meeting, February 2:84-85. Capt. Jonathan Wade, Dainiell 
Woodward, Ifack Fox." The greater part of the record of that year 
is spread upon pages 9 and 10. The balance of page 2 is blank, the 
conclusion therefore is inevitable, that the first record of the doings of 
the inhabitants of Meadford Plantation, is that upon page 3, and 
that the Clerk of the years 1678 and 1684-85 omitted to record in full, 
the records of those years, and that when the omission was discovered, 
the records of the succeeding meetings having been recorded, the clerk 
was obhged to complete his records by spreading the omitted parts upon 
the blank leaf forming pages i and 2. 

Medford never was incorporated as a town, and that the inhabitants 
of the plantation did not consider that they were organized as a town, as 
were the other settlements of the Colony is evident from the action of 
the said inhabitants at a meeting held Oct. 13-1684. " It was agreed 
upon at a general meeting of the inhabitants, by a vote, to petition the 
General Court, to grant us power and privileges as other towns for the 
ordering of prudentials among us." The reply of the General Court 
to this petition was as follows: — " At a General Court held at Bosto'" 
15th of October 1684. In answer to the petition of Mr. Nathaniel Wade 
and Peter Tufts in behalf of the inhabitants of Meadford, ye Court grants 
their request and declares that Meadford hath been and is, a pecuHar, 
and have power as other towns as to prudentials." Meadford was pe- 
cuHar, inasmuch as all its territory was under one ownership, until 1656, 
and after the inhabitants had commenced to meet together to consult in 
regard to their prudential affairs, they proceeded gradually to exercise 
the rights and duties of a town. In 1676 they elected the first Board of 
Selectmen. In 1679 the first Highway Surveyor, In 1680 the first 



1 6 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Tithing-man and the first Sealer of Measures. In 1681-82 the first 
Fence Viewers, also the first provision for warning a meeting was re- 
corded and fines were imposed for absence from a General Meeting. 
In 1689 Medford sent its first Representative to the General Court, and 
in 1693 its first orders and by-laws were approved by the Court. 

Another peculiarity of Medford is illustrated by the following action 
of the General Court, " June, 1641. It is ordered that all farms that 
are within the bounds of any town shall be of the town in which they 
lie, except Meadford." Meadford farm was situated within the limits 
of Charlestown, and although without a town government, it had no con- 
nection with any other settlement, a peculiarity not shared by any farm 
or plantation in the Colony. 

INDIANS. 

The Indians who lived in Medford and vicinity were of the tribe of 
Pawtuckets. Their Sachem, just prior to the settlement of the Bay 
Colony, was Nanepashemit, who removed from Lynn in 161 5 and took 
up his residence on Mystic River, where he was killed in 161 9 in an en- 
gagement with the Tarratines, an eastern tribe of Indians. In Sept., 
1 62 1, a party of ten men and three Indians was sent out from Plymouth 
to explore in the neighborhood of Boston Harbor. They discovered 
Mystic River but did not explore it. The following extract is from 
Mourt's Relation published in London in 1622. " On the morrow 
(Oct. 1-1621) we went ashore, all but two men, and marched in Armes 
up the Countrey. Having gone three myles, we came to a place where 
Come had been newly gathered, a house pulled downe, and the people 
gone. A myle from hence, Nanepashemet, their King in his life time 
had lived. His house was not like others, but a scaffold was largely 
built with pooles and plancks some six feete from the ground, and the 
house upon that, being situated on the top of a hill. Not farre from 
hence in a bottome we came to a Fort built by their deceased King, in 
manner thus: There were pools some thirte or fortie foote long, stucke 
in the ground as thick as they could be set one by another and with these 
they inclosed a ring some forty or fifty foote ouer. A trench breast high 
was digged on each side ; one way there was to goe into it with a bridge ; 
in the midst of this Pallizado stood the frame of a house, wherein being 
dead, he laid buryed. About a mile from hence, we came to such another 
but seated on the top of an hill; here Nanepashemet was killed none 
dwelling in it since the time of his death. At this place we stayed, and 
sent two Saluages to looke the Inhabitants, and to informe them of our 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 17 

ends in comming, that thay might not be faerfuU of us; Within a myle 
of the place they found the women of the place together, with their Corne 
on heapes, whither we supposed them to be fled for fear of us, and the 
more, because in divers places they had nearly pulled downe their houses, 
and for haste in one place had left some of their Corne covered with a Mat 
and no body with it ." 

The location of the places above described is supposed to be within 
the limits of Medford, although there is no evidence that such was the 
fact. According to their own statement, these explorers did not explore 
Mystic River. They landed at some point unknown to us and marched 
up into the country three miles, to a house on a hill where the Sachem 
Nanepashemit had lived. Not far from the place they came to a fort 
where the Sachem was buried. Then about a mile to another house on 
a hill where he was killed, and about a mile from this place they found 
the women of the tribe. We know from the map of Mr. Wood alread}' 
referred to that the houses of Sagamore John were on the westerly slope 
of Walnut Tree Hill, and we also know that they were in the habit of 
frequently changing their residences. No doubt but that they lived at 
times near the Weirs of the Mystic Ponds, where they resorted for the 
purpose of catching fish. Indian remains have been found on the Brooks 
Estate and a monument erected to their memory by the late Mr. Francis 
Brooks. 

After the death of Nanepashemit his wife the Squa-Sachem reigned 
over the tribe. She married Webcowit, the medicine man of the tribe. 
The Pawtuckets were at one time a powerful tribe, but war and disease 
had greatly reduced their numbers. 

Governor Dudley in 1631 says " Upon the river Misticke is situated 
Sagamore John, and upon the river Saugus, Sagamore James his brother. 
Both these brothers command not above thirty or forty men for aught 
I can learn." 

Governor Winthrop in speaking of the Indians in 1633 says, " Saga- 
mores John and James and most of their people died of the Small Pox." 
Sagamore John, whose Indian name was Wonohaquaham, was a firm 
friend of the English, and according to the Charlestown records once 
warned them of a meditated Indian design to cut ofif all the settlers. 

In 1636 the Squa-Sachem deeded a lot of land in Cambridge and 
Charlestown including the Mystic Ponds to Jotham Gibbon, she also 
sold another lot on the west side of Mystic Ponds. " The 15th of the 
2nd mo., 1639: Wee, Webcowit andSqua Sachem, do sell unto the inhabi- 
tants of the towne of Charlestowne all the land within the line granted 



l8 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

them by the Court (excepting the farmes and the ground on the west of 
the two great ponds, called Misticke Ponds), from the South Side of Mr. 
Nowell's lott, neere the upper end of the ponds, unto the httle runnet 
that cometh from Capt. Cook's mills, which the Squa reserveth to their 
use, for her life, for the Indians to plant and hunt upon, and the weare 
above the ponds they also reserve for the Indians to fish at whiles the 
Squa liveth ; and, after the death of Squa Sachem, she doth leave all her 
land from Mr. Mayhue's house to neere Salem, to the present Governor, 
Mr. John Winthrop, Sen., Mr. Increase Nowell, Mr. John Wilson, Mr. 
Edward Gibons to dispose of, and all Indians to depart: and for satis- 
faction from Charlestowne, wee acknowledge to have received, in full 
satisfaction, twenty and one coates, nineteen fathom of wampon, and 

three bushels of Corn ". 

The Squa Sachem died prior to 1662, probably at her residence on the 
west side of Mystic Ponds. After her death Mr. Francis Norton and 
Nicholas Davison in behalf of the inhabitants of Charlestown, laid 
claims to the tract of land reserved to her during her lifetime. The 
land was then in the possession and improvement of Mr. Thomes Glei- 
son of Charlestown. In the papers of the suit that followed to gain pos- 
session of the land, the following affidavits appear: — '' The testimony 
of Richard Beers, Benjamin Crispe and Garret Church. Testifieth 
and saith that Mr. Thomas Mayhew lived at Mistick, alias Meadford 
in the yeare one thousand six hundred thirty and six.' ' "I Joseph Hills 
aged about 60 yeares, testify that about 1638, Mr. Davison lived at 
Meadford house, who showed me the accommodations of the farm, being 
about to take said farme and stock of him and Captain Will. Ting, and 
I testify that Mr. Mayhew did not then dwell at Meadford House to the 

best of my knowledge — 17-10-1662. ". 

The house of Mr. Mayhue mentioned in the deed from the Squa- 
Sachem to the inhabitants of Charlestown, is supposed to have been 
Meadford House, or Governor Cradock's farm house, Mr. Mayhue, 
having been Mr. Cradock's agent and resided at Meadford House, in 
1636. 

MONUMENTS OF THE OLDEN TIMES. 

One of the oldest houses in the Medford of to-day is the old wooden 
farm house off Riverside Avenue in that part of Medford called WeUing- 
ton. This house was built by George Blanchard in 1657. It stands on 
land granted by the General Court in 1634 to Mr. John Wilson, Pastor 
of the Church in Boston. Mr. Wilson sold the farm consisting of two 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 1 9 

hundred acres of land with dwelling house and other buildings to Thomas 
Blanchard of Braintree. Mr. Wilson's farm buildings have long since 
disappeared, but the remains of the cellar of the dwelling house can still 
be seen, about one-eighth of a mile southeast of the old Blanchard farm 
house. The land on which these two houses were built was annexed to 
Medford in 1817. 

Standing on Riverside Avtnue is an old brick house, commonly known 
as the Cradock house. It takes its name from Mr. Mathew Cradock, 
who was at one time supposed to have been its owner and builder. The 
lot of land on which this house stands was sold April 20, 1677, by the 
son and executor of Richard Russell to Peter Tufts of Charlestown. This 
lot of land contained about 350 acres which had thereon "owg dwelling 
house and barn." Mr. Tufts, by deed dated November 26, 1680, sold to 
his son, Peter Tufts, junior, (commonly called Captain Peter) one- 
half part of the land he bought of Mr. Russell, with housings. The one 
dwelling house and barn with twenty acres of land lying next to Mr. 
Blanchard's farm was not included in this sale. Peter Tufts senior, in 
his will dated March i, 1693, devised to his son Peter Tufts, junior, a 
portion of his estate, viz.: "I give to my son Peter, twenty acres of land 
lying next his house and the dwelling house standing thereon, he paying 
his brother John for the barn standing upon said land, the line to run 
from said Peter's line to George Blanchard's hne." February 9,1715-6. 
Captain Peter Tufts sold to Peter Eades of Medford the twenty acres 
of land with the dwelHng house thereon, devised to him by his father 
Peter Tufts, senior. A short time prior to his decease. Captain Peter 
Tufts by deed dated March 17, 1721, conveyed to his son Peter Tufts, 
junior, of Maiden, forty-five acres of land on the north side of the w^ay 
to Blanchards; " also the east half of my brick house * * * ." 
The dwelling house and twenty acres of land sold by Captain Peter 
Tufts to Peter Eades was sold by Mr. Eades to Peter Tufts, junior, (son 
of Captain Peter), and on the first day of April, 1728 Peter Tufts, Junior, 
sold to Edward Oakes of Maiden, four acres and thirteen poles of land, 
with an old house upon it. This land was bounded westerly and northerly 
on the said Peter Tufts' land. In 1753 when Edward Oakes died the 
inventory of his estate mentioned a mansion house and an old house and 
barn. When the estate was divided, Edward Oakes one of his sons, 
received twelve and one-half acres with the old house thereon; the old 
house set off to Edward Oakes, Junior, was situated between the brick 
house of Peter Tufts and the mansion house of Edward Oakes, very 
near to the said mansion house and about ninety rods distant easterly 



20 TWO ETONDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

from Peter Tufts' house (Cradock House) and it was the one dwelling 
house that stood upon the land when purchased by Peter Tufts, Senior. 
The mansion house of Edward Oakes is no doubt the house now stand- 
ing on Riverside Avenue, formerly called the "Hall house." The so 
called Cradock house was built by Peter Tufts, Senior, between the 
years 1677 and 1680 and should be called The Peter Tufts House. 

May 26, 1661, Mr. Richard Russell sold to Mr. Jonathan Wade, sen- 
ior, of Ipswich, three-fourths part of all the land he purchased of Mr. 
Colhns, with the buildings thereon. Mr. Wade died in 1683, and in 
his will he provided as follows: — " I give to my son Jonathan the one- 
half of my farm at Mistick, with the one-half of all the stock upon it. 
Also I give to Nathaniel the other half of said farm at Mistick and one- 
half of the stock upon it, to be equally divided between them.' ' In the 
Inventory of his estate " an old tenement and other buildings," valued 
at 200;^ is mentioned as a part of the estate enjoyed by Captain (Jona- 
than) Wade. This old tenement was the real Cradock house, and the 
other buildings were the great bam and other farm buildings, as shown 
on the maps to which reference has been made. The foregoing extracts 
show that when Jonathan Wade, senior, died there was but one tene- 
ment upon the Wade farm: this is important as it very nearly fixes the 
date of the building of the Major Jonathan Wade house or the " Garri- 
son house" as it is sometime called, for when Major Wade died in 1689, 
the "Garrison house" had then been built, so that the date of its con- 
struction is between 1683 and 1689, probably nearer to the first named 
date. Mr. Charles Brooks in his History of Medford speaks of a brick 
house that stood opposite Magoun's Shipyard on Riverside Avenue ; this 
was the house of Major Nathaniel Wade and was probably built at the 
same time as the "Garrison house," it was taken down early in the nine- 
teenth century. This house was called the " Old Fort." 

The most notable house now standing in Medford is the "Royall 
house." It stands on land that was a part of Charlestown until 1754. 
The date of its original construction is unknown. It is first shown upon a 
plan made in 1697 ^-nd there is evidence that dates it back to 1690. There 
is no doubt but that it was originally built by the Winthrops for the use 
of the tenant who occupied the westerly part of their Ten Hills farm. 
It was occupied by John Usher from 1697 to 1726 the date of his death 
and was by his widow sold to Isaac Royall in February, 1732-3. In 
Middlesex South District Deeds is a plan dated October, 1732, which 
shows the Usher house at the date of the sale, as a building two stories 
in height, a front door in the middle with rooms upon each side, and a 




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HISTORY OF MED FORD. 21 

chimney at each end ; two dormer windows in the roof furnished light and 
air for the garrets, and a third one near the ridge of the roof furnished 
light and air for the entry and stairway. As shown by measurements 
made at the present time this old building was forty five feet long and 
eighteen feet wide, the original brick walls on the ends and west side 
are still standing, the front wall which was probably also of brick is now 
constructed of wood. In the third story may still be seen the plate on 
which the rafters of the old roof rested, which plate is about three feet 
above the third story floor. Some of the old rafters of the original roof 
are still in place. Under the ownership of the Royalls, father and son, 
the house assumed its present shape. It was called in 1750 "one of the 
grandest in North America." Standing to the left and sHghtly in the 
rear of the mansion is the building known as the slave quarters. This 
building was not shown upon the plan of 1732. It is probable that a 
small building stood here at that time which was enlarged by Isaac 
Royall, senior, as he brought with him from the Island of Antiqua 
twenty-seven slaves. The original building was a small structure about 
eleven by twenty feet, one story in height; the enlarged building is two 
stories in height and contains two rooms with a deep cellar under the 
whole. The lower room with ample fireplace and brick oven, was the 
kitchen, where tradition says the food of the slaves was prepared. It is 
one of the most interesting relics of slavery in Massachusetts. Behind 
the house was a summer house placed upon a mound with two terraces, 
and reached by two flights of red sandstone steps. It was octagonal 
in form with a bell shaped roof, surmounted by a cupola, on which was 
placed a figure of Mercury with the face turned towards the rising sun. 
The Royall House was at times the Headquarters of General Washing- 
ton and other commanders of the Continental troops, while the army 
was stationed at Cambridge. It is now the home of the Sarah Bradlee 
Fulton Chapter, D. A. R. 

ROADS. 

The first road or path in Medford was that traveled by Richard 
Sprague and his companions in the summer of 1629; in their journey 
from Salem to Charlestown. These travelers no doubt followed sub- 
stantially the Unes of Salem Street, passing through the Square, up High 
Street, crossing the river at the Ford, thence over Main Street to Charles- 
town. 

The way on the north side of the river was called by the several names 
of "Salle path," "Salem path," "Salem Highway," "The way to 
Mistick" and "Salem path to Mistick Ford." 



22 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

The way on the south side of the river was called " The road to Charles- 
town" and "the way to Mistick." 

Prior to the building of Mistick Bridge, the way or path from Medford 
to Charlestown probably ran from the southerly end of the ford, across 
that plot of land, bounded by Main, Summer, Walnut and South Streets. 

After the building of the bridge Main Street was no doubt made to 
follow its present lines and South Street was laid out as a way to the 
Ford. It was called "The Fordway," "The way to the Ford," and later 
"Fish House Lane." 

The way from Medford to Woburn was one of the early paths used 
by the first settlers. It was first laid out as a public way in 1646. River- 
side Avenue was formerly called "The River road" and "Mile Lane." 
It was referred to in 1657 as "the Common highway leading from the 
Mansion House (Blanchard's) unto Charlestown Commons and Mead- 
ford House." This road ran from the old farm house, now standing 
at Wellington, over the present lines of Riverside Avenue to the southerly 
end of Cross Street, thence across the Common to Salem Street, thence 
over Gravelly Bridge, following Salem Street to the Square, where Mead- 
ford House was located. 

In 1672 a highway was laid out from Cambridge to Woburn, through 
Medford. This road began at Symmes Corner (now in Winchester) 
and ran over the Hues of Grove Street, thence across High Street and 
across the plot of land on the south side of High Street, down to and 
across the mill dam connected with "Wheeler's Mill." Grove Street 
had previously been laid out as a pubUc way, probably in 1663. 

The same year a committee of the County Court settled the way from 
Cambridge to Maiden. "From the new County road by the slate hill, 
over the sorrelly plain through Mr. Winthrop's farm, to the road leading 
to Mistick bridge, and from there over Gravelly bridge, and to the left, 
over the plain, to Maiden." The way through the sorrelly plain is the 
present Harvard Street. 

The Court instructed the committee who laid out the way between 
Cambridge and Maiden, "to lay out the same four rods in wddth where 
the lands are fenced in, and where the land is low and wet, there to lay 
out the same six or more rods in breadth.' ' 

Fulton Street, Cross Street, and Love Lane were originally laid out 
by the town of Charlestown in 1695 t>y agreement with the owners of 
the land through which these ways ran. Fulton Street was laid out as a 
pubHc highway by the County Court in 1735. That part of Riverside 
Avenue between River and Cross Streets was laid out in 1 746 by private 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 23 

parties, in order to make a convenient way to the tide-mill. River 
Street was opened up from Salem Street to Riverside Avenue about 
1717, and was then called " The way to the wharf.' ' That part of River- 
side Avenue adjoining the Square was laid out about 171 7. It was 
sixteen feet in width and after distilleries were established was called 
"Distill House Lane." 

In 1709 a new highway was laid out by the County Court from a 
point now in the town of ArHngton, at a place called Adams' Gate, cross- 
ing the river at the Weirs, over High Street to Grove Street and thence 
to Symmes Corner. High Street from Woburn Street to the Weirs is 
an ancient way. It was called " The way to the wears' ' and " The Ware 
Highway." 

All of the highways mentioned above, as having been laid out by the 
County Court, were laid out over ways already existing, and some of 
these were laid out several times by the Court. 

A part of Swan Street and the way that formerly led to Bean's Coal 
Wharf, on the south side of the river, were laid out about 1720. 

Medford roads were first mentioned in the County Records, June 
25, 1658. "Meadford is enjoined to repair their highways before the 
next term of Court, on penalty of forty shilHngs." 
Prior to 1800 no streets were laid out as town ways. 
Medford Street, over Winter Hill, was laid out in 1814. High Street 
from Woburn Street to West Cambridge (ArHngton) was laid out by the 
County Court in 1802. 

There was no considerable demand for the laying out of new streets 
in Medford until about 1845, then a movement commenced to lay out 
some of the farming lands into house lots. This spirit of improvement 
has been carried out so successfully that today there are 166 accepted 
streets in the city, and their total lengths are 51.5 miles. 

On the South side of the river and west of Main Street was a large 
tract of land called "the stinted pasture." This land was held in com- 
mon by the inhabitants of Charlestown and was used as a pasture for 
their cattle. When these cattle increased so that the pasturage became 
shortened, the pasture was "stinted in," or the number of cattle that 
each inhabitant might pasture there was limited, hence the name of 
"the stinted pasture.' ' This pasture was afterwards divided into ranges 
80 rods in width and between these ranges were roads or ways, called 
rangeways, laid out two rods wide, and they extended from Menotomy 
Road (Broadway) to Mystic River. The first rangeway ran over 
Walnut Tree Hill, near where the chapel of Tufts College stands. Its 



24 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

northerly end was at the Ford, its southerly end can still be seen, where 
it connects with Broadway. The second rangeway is now known as 
Winthrop Street in Medford and Curtis Street in Somerville. The third 
rangeway is now known as North Street in both cities. 



LANDINGS. 

There was a landing at Wilson's Point (Wellington) on North River 
(Maiden River). On the north side of Mystic River, the first landing 
was at the foot of Foster Court, and known as Labor-in-vain landing. 
The second was at the foot of Park Street. The third at the foot of 
Cross Street and was called "No-mans-friend" landing and also Wade's 
landing. The fourth was where the new armory building now stands, 
and was called the "Bank;' ' it was the northerly end of the Ford. The 
fifth was at Rock Hill and was called Rock Hill landing and also the 
Rocks. The way leading thereto is now called Hastings Lane. The 
sixth landing was a short distance above Boston Avenue bridge. A 
portion of the way leading thereto is now known as Canal Street. This 
way was once extended across Boston Avenue and some hundreds of 
feet beyond. 

On the south or Charlestown side of the river, the first landing was 
west of and adjoining the Cradock Bridge. It was used by Charles- 
town as a landing place of materials for repairing and maintaining 
Mistick bridge. The second landing was on South Street, near the end 
of Walnut Street. It was the southerly end of the Ford. This landing 
was sometimes called the lower landing, the one at the bridge having 
been discontinued. The middle landing was at the junction of South 
and Winthrop Streets. The upper landing, or as the boys of today 
speak of it, "second beach" (the middle landing having been discon- 
tinued) is just east of and adjoining the location of the Boston and Lo- 
well Railroad. 

MEDFORD TURNPIKE. 

In 1803 several Medford men petitioned the General Court for a 
charter to build a Turnpike from Medford to Charlestown. The in- 
corporators were granted a charter under the name of "The Medford 
Turnpike Corporation." The road was built and managed as a toll 
road until 1867, when it was laid out as a public way by the County 
Commissioners of Middlesex and received the name of Mystic Avenue. 




o 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 25 

ANDOVER TURNPIKE. 

An act of incorporation for building this road was obtained June 15, 
1805. Several Medford men were interested in the enterprise. It was a 
toll road until 1831, when it became a public way. It is now called 
Forest Street. 

RAILROADS. 

The Boston and Lowell Railroad runs through the southerly and 
westerly portions of the city. Its charter was granted June 5, 1830. 

The Medford Branch Railroad connects with the Boston and Maine 
tracks at Wellington. Its terminal is in Medford Square. It was in- 
corporated March 7, 1845. 

STREET RAILROADS. 

The Medford and Charlestown Railroad Company was incorporated 
May 15, 1855, and a location was granted by the selectmen in i860. 
The road was built and operated until 1873, when in consequence of a 
disagreement between the Company and the authorities of Somerville, 
the road was discontinued. In 1884 the road was re-opened, and the 
town appropriated $8,000.00 for the paving of the roadbed from Medford 
Square to the Somerville line. The road has been extended to the Mai- 
den line and also to West Medford. It is now controlled by the Boston 
Elevated Railroad Company. 

A new line from Broadway in Somerville, to Arlington; passing over 
College and Boston Avenues and High Street, has recently been con- 
structed, also a line from Maiden to Welhngton, and a line from North 
Woburn to Medford, connecting with the city of Lowell. All of these 
street railways are now operated by electricity. 

BRIDGES. 

The first bridge across Mystic River was built upon the location of 
the present Cradock Bridge. 

It was the work of Gov. Cradock's agent, and was built of wood, 
154 feet and 5 inches long, about 10 feet wide and was raised about 3 
feet above marsh level. It was commenced prior to 1637, as it is shown 
upon a map of Gov. Winthrop's Ten Hills Farm, made in that year. 

The first reference to this bridge in the records of the General Court, 
is in the year 1639. "At the General Court held in Boston the 22nd 
of the 3rd month (called May) 1639, Mr. Mathew Cradock is freed from 
rates to the Country, by agreement of the Court, for the year ensuing 



26 TWO BXTNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

from this day, in regard to his charge in building the bridge, and the 
Country is to finish it at the charge of the public, * * * *." 
The General Court kept the bridge in repair until March, 1647-8, when 
"It was ordered by the whole Court that Mistick bridge should be made 
and maintained by the County at the public Charge." 

On October 27, 1648, Mr. Davison, agent of the Cradock heirs, pe- 
titioned the General Court concerning the repairing and maintaining of 
Mistick Bridge by the County, and the Court after referring to what it 
had done in the past said, "But it appears not in the least, that the Gene- 
ral Court did engage to the repairing thereof. The Court being sat- 
isfied with the records, do order that said Mistick Bridge shall not by 
the Country anyways be repaired and that the passage for travellers 
shall be over the foarde, which is above the bridge. * * * " 

May 18, 1653, Mr. Davison again petitioned the General Court in 
reference to Mistick Bridge, which was still in an impassable condition, 
and the Court declared that any person or persons who should build, re- 
pair or maintain Mistick Bridge, might collect toll for people or cattle that 
passed over said bridge. Three years, later, October 2d, 1655, the Rev. 
Samuel Hough of Reading, Edward Convers ofWoburn and Joseph Hills 
of Maiden, represented to the Court of General Sessions of the Peace 
"that Mistick Bridge had fallen into decay and that the Country had 
suffered great loss and damage thereby and prayed the Court to order a 
sufficient Cart bridge over the Mistick river, in such convenient place, 
as would most accommodate the whole Country." The Court there- 
upon appointed a committee to erect Mistick Bridge and levy the charges 
thereof upon the county. This committee decided to build the bridge 
on the old location. The building of the bridge was delayed in con- 
sequence of the scarcity of labor, and the County Court authorized the 
committee in charge, "to impress Carpenters and Sawyers to be helpful 
therein." 

After the completion of the bridge the Court decreed that Charles- 
town, Meadford, Maiden, Woburn and Reading should make and main- 
tain Mistick bridge. 

From the records of Charlestown it is learned that July 17, 1668, the 
five towns above mentioned were represented at a meeting held in 
Charlestown, and agreed— "that in the future and all time to come" 
Charlestown should mend and maintain the southerly half of Mistick 
bridge, which said southerly half was 77 feet 2^ inches long, and that 
the other towns above named should mend and maintain the northerly 
half of said bridge, which was of Uke length. The four towns that were 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 27 

to care for the northerly half of said bridge, made a division of the same, 
so that each town was made responsible for the repairs of a certain speci- 
fied portion. There is no record of this division, the County Court re- 
cords containing this agreement having been destroyed by fire. In the 
County Court files it is found that "Meadford's part of Mistick Bridge, 
that said town is to repair, is that Arch next to the open arch, that said 
town filled up and repaired." 

In 1 67 1 a committee was appointed by the towns of Charlestown, 
Meadford, Maiden, Woburn and Reading, "to consider the expediency 
of repairing Mistick Bridge, or of constructing a new bridge in another 
locality.' ' This committee concluded "that the bridge shall be repaired 
in the same place where it now stands." 

From the records of Maiden: — "Nov. 29-1689, Maulden workt a mis- 
tak bridg. with cart and 4 oxen and 3 hands, to gravell the bridg." In 
the year 1693 Maiden, Woburn and Reading refused to obey the orders 
of the County Court to repair their portions of the bridge, and Woburn 
inhabitants in town meeting assembled declared "that what they had 
formerly done towards the repairing of Mistick bridge, was only an Act 
of Charity to help Meadford when they were low and poor. * * * " 
These towns were compelled to repair their part of the bridge, and from 
this time until 1760 it was a constant struggle to induce them to make 
necessary repairs upon the bridge. 

In 1760 the town of Medford, for satisfactory considerations, assumed 
the full charge of maintaining the northerly half of the bridge. 

In 1754 when that part of Medford south of the river was set off from 
Charlestown and annexed to Medford, the town assumed the care of 
the southerly half of the bridge. 

In 1804 a new bridge was built, wdth a draw, and a draw was main- 
tained until the year 1880, when the present stone bridge was built. 

The bridge at the Wears. The first mention of a bridge at the Wears 
is in the town records March i, 1699. "Put to vote whether the town 
will give Mr. John Johnson, three pounds, towards building a sufiScient 
horse bridge over the Wears, said bridge being railed on each side, and 
the said bridge raised so high, as there may be a fit passage for boats and 
rafts up and down the river. Voted in the afl&rmative." 

This bridge was of short duration, for in 1721, the towns of Charles- 
town and Medford were complained of, for not maintaining a bridge at 
the Wears. The complaint was dismissed. 

Again in 1736, 1738 and 1743 the said towns were indicted for neg- 
lecting to erect a bridge at the Wears. The defence of Medford was, 



28 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

that the ford was easy and convenient, and that Medford people seldom 
or never travelled that way. Each time the town was found not guilty. 

In 1746 the General Court passed an Act, requiring the above named 
towns to erect a bridge at the Wears. This was done and bridges have 
there been maintained from that date to the present day. The present 
bridge was built in 1893 by Medford and Arhngton. 

Gravelly Bridge, in Salem Street, over Gravelly Creek, was first men- 
tioned in the town records April 27, 17 16, when a committee was chosen 
to examine and report "the most proper method for repairing Gravelly 
bridge." At a subsequent meeting the committee reported, and the 
town voted to raise five pounds "to repair the meeting-house and mend 
Gravelly bridge." In 1751 the bridge was rebuilt with stone. 

The bridges in High Street, over Marble and Whitmore Brooks were 
rebuilt of stone in 1803. 

The bridge in Riverside Avenue, over Gravelly Creek was built in 
1746 (of stone) by private parties, for the purpose of making a con- 
venient way to the tide-mill. 

The bridge over Mystic River at Harvard Avenue was built in 1856 
and named "Ushers Bridge," it is situated in Medford and Arlington. 

Winthrop Street bridge was built in 1857. Boston Avenue bridge 
was built in 1873 and rebuilt in 1900 by Medford and Somerville. Au- 
burn Street and Middlesex Avenue bridges were built in 1873. The 
old Middlesex Avenue bridge has been removed and a new one built by 
the Metropolitan Park Commissioners takes its place. This bridge 
was completed in 1904; it is situated in Medford and Somerville. 

The bridges over the Boston and Lowell Railroad at Winthrop, North 
and Grove Streets and the railroad bridge over Harvard Street were 
built between 1830 and 1835. College Avenue bridge over said railroad 
was built in 1861; it has been rebuilt within a few years. 

Bridges over the Medford Branch Railroad at Cross and Park 
Streets were built about 1846. 

When the Middlesex Canal was in operation there were bridges over 
said canal at Main, Winthrop, North and High Streets, and over the 
branch canal at Mystic Avenue. 

MIDDLESEX CANAL. 

In May, 1793, Hon. James Sulhvan, Benjamin Hall, Wilhs Hall, 
Ebenezer Hall, Jonathan Porter, Loammi Baldwin, Ebenezer Hall, Jr., 
Andrew Hall and Samuel Swan, (seven of these were Medford men) 
held a meeting, the object of which was to open a canal from the waters 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 29 

of the Merrimac River, by Concord River, or in some other way, through 
the waters of Mystic River, to the town of Boston. The meeting was 
organized by the choice of Benjamin Hall as a chairman and Samuel 
Swan as clerk, (both of Medford) and the Hon. James SuUivan, Loammi 
Baldwin and Captain Ebenezer Hall were chosen a committee to attend 
the General Court to obtain "an act of incorporation with suitable pow- 
ers relating to the premises." To carry out this vote the nine persons 
above named, petitioned the General Court, and a charter was granted, 
bearing date of June 22, 1793, incorporating James Sullivan and others 
by the name of "the Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal," and on the 
same day the bill was signed by his Excellency John Hancock, Governor 
of the Commonwealth. The management of the corporation was in- 
trusted to a board of thirteen directors, annually elected, who were to 
choose a president and vice president from their own number. On the 
first board of directors appear the names of Hon. John Brooks, Cap- 
tain Ebenezer Hall and Jonathan Porter, Esq., all of Medford. 

At a meeting of the board of directors held Oct., 11, 1793, Hon. James 
Sullivan was elected president, Loammi Baldwin, Esq., first vice-presi- 
dent and Hon. John Brooks, second vice-president. 

Great difficulties were encountered in securing the services of a com- 
petent person to make the necessary surveys, the science of civil engineer- 
ing being then but little known in the New England states. Samuel 
Thompson of Woburn was selected to make the preliminary survey, but 
his work not being satisfactory, Samuel Weston, an Enghsh engineer, 
then employed upon the Potomac Canal, was engaged to do the work. 

His report was made Aug. 2, 1794. He found the ascent from Med- 
ford River to Concord River to be 104 feet, and a descent of about 26 
feet to the Merrimac River at Chelmsford. The original plan provided 
that the canal should connect with tide-water at Mystic Pond, but this 
plan was abandoned.. The projectors of the enterprise hoped that ulti- 
mately the canal would be extended to Canada. 

The canal when completed was 30 feet wide and 4 feet deep, with 20 
locks, 7 acqueducts and crossed by 50 bridges, and cost when open for 
navigation in 1803 about $500,000. It commenced at Charlestown mill- 
pond with which it was connected by a tide lock, thence under Main 
Street near Sullivan Square, across Charlestown Neck, along the north- 
erly side of Plowed and Winter Hills, passing the base of the latter so 
close to the river that when the Medford Turnpike was afterwards built, 
it became necessary to encroach upon the river and to build a retaining 
wall in order to obtain a sufficient width for the roadway; thence along 



30 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-riFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

the edge of the marsh through the Adams farm (Mystic Park) to a point 
within a few hundred feet east of Main Street. At this point was an out- 
let into a circular basin, the water of which was on a level with the 
water of the canal. From this circular basin ran the branch canal to 
the river, connecting with both basin and river by means of locks. From 
the outlet above mentioned to Main Street the canal was widened so as 
to allow for the storage of boats and rafts while awaiting a passage 
through the branch canal to the river. Crossing Main Street and follow- 
ing partially in the line of Summer Street a few hundred feet, there stood 
a warehouse and dock on the south side of the canal; then continuing 
along the line of Summer Street to the half-basin which was situated 
where the Cradock school house now stands. This half-basin was the 
place where the rafts of ship-timber were stored preparatory to being 
hauled to the several shipyards on the river. Continuing along the line 
of Summer Street in part and in part through what is now building lots, 
it crossed Winthrop Street opposite the end of West Street, then along 
the lines of West Street, across the square at the junction of West, Cot- 
ting, North and Auburn Streets, it ran close to the river at a point where 
the Boston and Lowell Railroad afterwards passed over it, by means, 
of a bridge, the abutments of which are still standing; then continuing 
through land now within the limits of Somerville, to the river, which 
was crossed by means of an acqueduct 134 feet long, on the same spot 
where Boston Avenue bridge now stands. At the westerly end of this 
acqueduct and connected with it, stood the only lock on the main canal 
within the Hmits of Medford; thence along the line of Boston Avenue, 
across High Street, through the Brooks estate; the stone arched bridge 
bearing witness to its location ; along the easterly shore of the Mystic 
Ponds, crossing the Aberjona River, into Winchester, thence through Win- 
chester, Woburn, Wilmington, and Billerica to the Concord River; thence 
across said river, and through Chelmsford, where it entered the Merri- 
mac River; the Concord River being the water supply for the canal. 
The tow-path was on the north side of the canal as it passed through 
Medford. Owing to the necessity of frequent repairs upon the acque- 
ducts, locks and banks of the canal, and the erection of toll-houses and 
houses for the accommodation of passengers and boatmen and also the 
heavy expenses incurred in opening the Merrimac River to navigation, 
frequent assessments were laid upon the stock holders, and it was not 
until 1819 that the canal was put upon a paying basis. No sooner had 
the stock holders began to reap the benefit of their investments than a 
new cloud appeared to darken their horizon. This was a petition for a 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 3 1 

charter, presented to the General Court in 1829 for a railroad from Bos- 
ton to Lowell. 

The proprietors of the canal remonstrated in vain against granting 
this charter, and from the time the railroad went into operation until 
1852, the year the canal was discontinued, it was a heavy expense to 
keep it in operation, but the slow-going canal could not compete with 
steam and the enterprise was abandoned. 

While the canal was in operation it was of immense benefit to Boston 
and vicinity and especially to the town Medford. It furnished large 
supplies of ship-timber for the shipyards, firewood for domestic use and 
for manufactures, granite for building purposes, etc. It also furnished 
a plentiful supply of soft water for domestic use, for those who resided 
upon the line of its route. 

The tow-path furnished a delightful promenade in summer, the canal 
was in summer a famous fishing place for the boys, and in winter its 
frozen waters were covered with skaters. 

A few traces of the canal can still be seen in the city. 

TRADE AND MANUFACTURES. 

Mr. Cradock's men established themselves upon the Mystic River 
at Medford and opened a trade with the Indians for skins and furs. For 
a few years the business was successful. 

Fishing was also quite extensively carried on, and when the business 
declined there was but little traffic ; the people who lived here were mostly 
farmers and few in numbers, and produced only enough for their own 
support. Bricks were made here from the earliest days, but at first only 
in quantities sufficient for home consumption. Cloth was woven to 
supply the local demand, as was the case with other industries. In the 
first half of the eighteenth century the population of Medford began to 
increase and the inhabitants were obHged to direct their efforts to trade 
and commerce. Situated on the banks of a navigable river, capable of 
floating the largest vessels then built, with business men such as the 
Halls, Tuftses, Bishops, Brookses, and others, engaged in the manu- 
facture of bricks, rum, tanned hides, candles, casks and barrels, the 
slaughtering of beef cattle and other minor industries, all of which con- 
tributed to make Medford in the latter half of the eighteenth and the 
first part of the nineteenth century one of the most thriving towns in the 
Commonwealth. The products of Medford's industries, shipped to 
foreign and domestic ports and exchanged for such goods as would find 
a ready sale in the country, brought traders from New Hampshire, Ver- 



32 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY- FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

mont and other places to Medford, there to exchange their own produc- 
tions for such articles as Medford dealers could furnish at as low a rate 
as they could be procured in Boston, and save the time and expense of a 
trip to that town. The increase of business and the gathering of traders 
in the market place became so great as to compel the town to elect a 
clerk of the market for the better regulation of business. The establish- 
ment of ship building brought to the town both wealth and population, 
and when that industry declined, a few minor industries were estab- 
lished, but not enough to take from the city the name of "a bedroom of 
Boston." 

FISHERIES. 

According to the best information that can be obtained the first white 
inhabitants of Medford were largely made up of fishermen and mechan- 
ics in the employ of Mathew Cradock, who located themselves upon the 
banks of the Mystic River in 1629, chiefly for the purpose of estabhsh- 
ing a center from which Mr. Cradock's large interests in the fisheries 
could be directed. In 1629 shipwrights and other mechanics were sent 
over from England, who were to be employed one-third of the time for 
Mr. Cradock. It was in Medford that Mr. Cradock's agents resided. 
The wharf and dock that his agents constructed shows that he expected 
to transact an extensive business in Medford. The fisheries were looked 
upon by the London Company as of great importance and no efforts 
were spared to make the business a success, and Mr. Cradock made 
the venture at Meadford on his own account. 

Mystic River was a noted place for fish. William Wood says of it in 
1634, " At the head of this river are great and spacious ponds whither 
the Alewives preasse to spaun." In 1634 the General Court granted the 
Wear at Mistick "to John Winthrop, Esq., the present Governor and to 
Mr. Mathew Cradock of London to enjoy to them and their heirs for- 
ever." Both the Enghsh and Indians caught large quantities of fish 
for food and to enrich the land for the purpose of planting corn. The 
Squa Sachem in a deed of land to the inhabitants of Charlestown re- 
served the Weir above the ponds for the Indians to fish at "whiles the 
Squa hveth." Although Mr. Cradock spent large sums of money to 
estabhsh his plantation at Mistick it appears not to have been a financial 
success. In 1640 he suggests as a means of increasing the income and 
welfare of the settlement that "a magazine for fish to be the only way, 
by God's assistance, some beginning should be made without expectation 
of immediate profit, that the fishermen may be assured that the fish shall 
be taken off their hand as fast as possible. This by degrees will draw 




JOSHUA T. FOSTER 
JAMES O. CURTIS 



MEDFORD SHIP-BUILDERS 
THATCHER MAGOUN 



FOSTER WATERMAN 
WILLIAM M. CUDWORTH 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 33 

fishermen to plant themselves there." Mr. Cradock's expectations 
were not realized. 

At first there were no regulations concerning fishing in Mystic River, 
and after a time the people of Medford began to fear that the excessive 
taking of fish would soon limit the supply, so many being taken on the 
incoming tide, that but few were left to spawn. Accordingly the General 
Court on petition of the inhabitants of the town made regulations con- 
cerning fishing so as to prevent the destruction of the fish and at the 
same time to give to the towns of Medford, Charlestown and Cam- 
bridge the right to fish within their own Hmits on certain days of the 
week. 

Fish committees were appointed who were empowered to enforce the 
regulations concerning fishing. Medford petitioned the General Court 
for permission to let out the taking of fish. The petition was granted, 
the river divided into districts and the right to fish was sold by public 
auction. Alewives were abundant until about 1820, when they began 
to disappear. After a time they again returned and for a few years were 
again abundant. Again becoming scarce, the General Court passed 
restrictive acts forbidding fishing in Mystic River for a term of years. 
When these restrictions were removed fishing was again resumed, but 
owing to many causes the run of fish was so small as scarcely to warrant 
the selUng of the towns' fishing rights, and the town voted that fishing 
in Mystic River within its limits should be free to any inhabitant thereof. 
Since the taking of the banks of the river by the MetropoUtan Park Com- 
mission fishing in Mystic River by seines has entirely ceased. In 1829 
John Bishop attempted to estabUsh the business of mackerel fishing in 
Medford. Four vessels were built here and some purchased in Hing- 
ham. After two unsuccessful years Mr. Bishop was compelled to aban- 
don the enterprise. 

SHIP BUILDING IN MEDFORD. 

The estabhshment of Mr. Cradock's men upon the banks of the Mys- 
tic River, who were extensively employed in the fisheries, necessitated 
the building of small vessels, to be used in that occupation, and this leads 
to the inference that ship building was commenced upon the Mystic at 
an early date. In a letter from the company in London to the authori- 
ties here, dated April 17,1629, theysay " We haVe sentsix Shipwrights, 
of whom Robert Moulton is chief, these men's entertainment is very 
chargeable to us, and by agreement is to be borne two-thirds at the 
charge of the general company and the other one-third by Mr. Cradock, 
our Governor, and his associates, interested in a private stock." 



34 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

In another letter dated May 28, 1629, they say, " The provisions for 
building of Ships, as pitch, tar, rosin, oakum, old ropes for oakum, cord- 
age and sail-cloth, in all these ships, with nine firkins and five half- 
barrels of nails, in the 'Two Sisters,' are two- thirds for the Company 
in general, and one-third to the Governor, Mr. Cradock, and his asso- 
ciates ; as is also the charge of one George Farr, now sent over to the six 
shipwrights formerly sent." 

These letters show conclusively that to Mr. Cradock must be given 
the honor of being the first to estabhsh ship building upon the banks of 
the Mystic, for the Company's settlement was then at Salem, where it 
is presumed the shipwrights were at work when building for the Com- 
pany; for they bear date while Mr. Cradock was Governor of the Com- 
pany, and over a 3^ear prior to the coming of Governor Winthrop and 
his associates, and the claim that Governor Winthrop's bark of 30 tons 
burden, called the " Blessing of the Bay," launched at Mistick, July 4 
1 63 1, was the first vessel built upon the Mystic River has no foundation 
in fact, for while Governor Cradock had fishing stations in divers places, 
Meadford was his head-quarters, and the place where his vessels were 
built. 

William Wood, who visited New England in 1633, and whose des- 
cription of the place was published in London in 1634, says of Governor 
Cradock's plantation, "on the east side (of Mistick River) is Maister 
Craddockes plantation, where he hath impaled a Parke, where he keepes 
his cattle, till he can store it with deere ; here Hkewise he is at charge of 
building ships, the last yeare one was upon the stocks of a hundred 
Tunne, that being finished, they are to build one of twice her burden. 
Ships without ballast or loading, may floate down this river; otherwise 
the Oyster-banke would hinder them, which crosseth the Channell." 

The name of but one of Mr. Cradock's vessels has been handed down 
to us, the "Rebecca" of 60 tons burden. While Mr. Cradock lived (he 
died in 1641) his agents probably continued to build vessels upon the 
river banks, and although there is no records of such vessels, it is reason- 
able to infer from an extract from the County Deeds, that such was the 
fact. In Book i. Page 74, dated Sept. 26, 1642, Stephen Day of Cam- 
bridge agrees to deliver to Nicholson Davison of Meadford, two lots 
of white oak planks and trunnells, the first lot to be delivered at Cam- 
bridge and the second lot at Charlestown. This material was no doubt 
worked into vessels upon the banks of Mystic River. Mr. Davison 
was Mr. Cradock's agent, and the agent of his heirs, and his shipyard 
may have been located anj'where from "Labor-in-vain" landing to 
Mystic Bridge. 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 35 

In the printed records of Boston appear Aspinwall's Notarial Records, 
and they speak of a vessel called the "Susan" whom one Lanclet Baker 
agrees "to finish it & mast it & do the joiner work & beare halfe the 
vessels chardge till cleared below the bridge at Misticke." 

The Susan was probably built somewhere in Medford, and cleared 
for sea from Mr. Cradock's wharf and dock, situated next below the 
bridge. 

After the decline of fishing business in Medford, shipbuilding also 
declined. 

In volume VII of the Massachusetts Archives, is to be found a "Reg- 
ister of all such ships and vessels concerning the owners and property, 
whereof proof hath been made upon oath before WilHam Stoughton, 
Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts Bay in New England. * * " 
This register contains a record of vessels built in the Colony from 1680 
to 1714. Only one Medford built vessel appears in the list; "the brigan- 
tine 'Joanna,' 70 tons burden, built in 1699, and owned by one Bailey 
of Boston." 

From 1 7 14 to the end of the century it is probable that most of the 
vessels built in Medford were for river navigation only. About 1715 
the attention of the inhabitants of Medford began to be turned towards 
trade and manufactures, and as the river was the great highway between 
Medford and Boston, a class of vessels was built for that special service. 
They were gondolas or lighters, probably with flat bottoms and were 
propelled by sails, oars, poles and by towing. There were some sea- 
going vessels engaged in Medford trade, and it is presumed that they 
were built in the town. The period of ship building that gave wealth 
and fame to Medford commenced in 1803, when Mr. Thatcher Magoun, 
who has been well called "The Pioneer Ship-builder of Medford," built 
the brig Mount ^Etna of 188 tons burden. He continued to build from 
that year until 1836, and during that time built 84 vessels. His yard 
was on Riverside Avenue, opposite the end of Park Street, and was the 
only Medford yard provided with a ship-house. 

The locations of the several shipyards, beginning with the lower yard, 
which will be numbered one, are as follows : i. A yard at " Labor-in- 
vain' ' landing, at the foot of Foster Court, established by Sprague and 
James in 181 7. Afterwards used by Foster and Taylor, and also by 
Mr. Foster and Mr. Taylor individually. John Sparrell built a vessel 
of 70 tons burden in this yard, and Isaac Hall one of about the same 
size in 1847. The ship "Pilgrim," the last vessel built in Medford, was 
launched from this yard by J. T. Foster, in 1873. 



36 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

2. The yard of Thatcher Magoun above mentioned. This yard 
was also used by Curtis & Co., P. and J. O. Curtis, Waterman and 
Ewell, Henry Ewell individually, and Hayden and Cudworth. 

3. A yard on Riverside Avenue opposite the end of Cross Street, at 
" No-Mans-Friend" landing, established in 1805 by Calvin Turner and 
E. Briggs, afterwards used by Calvin Turner individually, E. and H. 
Rogers and Samuel Lapham. 

4. A yard off Swan Street, site of the City stables, etc., established 
in 1839 by James O. Curtis, and used exclusively by him, except that 
B. F. Delano built a small vessel there. These four yards were the only 
ones below Cradock Bridge and no sea-going vessels were built above 
the bridge until after the building of the draw-bridge in 1804. Cradock 
Bridge, prior to the building of the draw, was some three feet lower 
than at present, and being a close bridge, made it impossible to float 
any vessel underneath the same, except gondolas or lighters. 

5. A yard on the northerly side of the river on the site of the Armory. 
Here George N. Briggs built a small vessel. 

6. A yard on South Street, established in 1814 by James Ford, who 
built two vessels here in that year. They were intended for privateering, 
and were built in thirty-six days. The yard was afterwards used by 
George Fuller. The location of this yard was the southerly end of the 
"Fordat Misticke." 

7. A yard on South Street. Curtis Street is now located through 
it. Established in 1839 by Paul Curtis. Vessels built in this yard were 
launched across South Street. Mr. Curtis also built upon a point of 
land on the north side of South Street, nearly opposite Maple Avenue. 

8. A yard on Winthrop Street, established in 1833 by Jotham Stet- 
son. Luther Turner built a bark here in 1854. Vessels from this yard 
were launched down the river, in that part now covered by Winthrop 
Street bridge. 

9. A yard off Prescott Street, on the north side of the river, next ad- 
joining the Boston and Lowell Railroad. Peter Lewis built a small 
vessel here in 1845, and as far as is known the only one ever built here. 

The Rev. Abijah R. Baker, formerly pastor of the Second Congrega- 
tional Church of Medford, delivered a discourse on Thanksgiving Day, 
1846, full of valuable information concerning ship-building in Medford. 

This document gives a complete register of all the vessels built in the 
town from 1803 to 1846, with names of each vessel, date of building, the 
yard in which it was built, builder, owner, and tonnage. This register 
was afterwards supplementedby Mr. Charles Brooks in his history of Med- 




Q 5 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 37 

ford, and brought up to 1854. From that date to the close of ship-build- 
ing the list is incomplete. Mr. Usher, in his History of Medford, gives 
tables showing the aggregate result of ship-building in the town. 

Builders. No. vessels. Builders. No. vessels. 

Thatcher Magoun 84 Foster & Taylor 22 

C. Turner & E. Briggs 3 Paul Curtis 27 

Calvin Turner 25 James O. Curtis 78 

James Ford 2 George H. Briggs i 

Sprague & James 66 Peter Lewis i 

George Fuller 29 Henry Ewell 9 

E. & H. Rogers 9 John Taylor 12 

John Sparrell i Joshua T. Foster 42 

Samuel Lapham 20 Hayden & Cudworth 39 

Jotham Stetson 32 B. F. Delano 2 

Curtis & Co 2 Luther Turner i 

P. & J. O. Curtis 6 Isaac Hall i 

Waterman & Ewell 51 

Making a total of 568 vessels with a tonnage of 272,194 tons, at an 
estimated cost of $12,500,000. From 1850 to 1855, 33 vessels were 
built with a capacity of over 1000 tons each. 

The largest ship built in Medford, was the "Ocean Express" of 2000 
tons burden, built in 1854, by James O. Curtis. 

DISTILLERIES. 

The exact time when the business of distilHng hquors was commenced 
in Medford is unknown; probably between 1715 and 1720, as John Hall 
(the third of the name) the pioneer in the business, owned land on distill 
house lane (Riverside Avenue) prior to 1717, and his warehouse is spoken 
of in a deed dated 1727. He sold his distillery in 1735 to his brother, 
Andrew Hall, who carried it on until his death in 1 750. At the time of his 
death his son, Benjamin, was about nineteen years of age. Benjamin 
was employed in the Still House until his majority, when he purchased 
the plant and carried on the business for fifty-one years. The first 
distillery was built of wood and it is said that the site was selected because 
of a spring of water that issued from the ground at that spot. The wood- 
en building was taken down in 1797 and the present brick building 
erected on its site. The second distillery is the building now in use by 
the Boston and Maine Railroad Company as an engine house. It was 
built prior to 1767. Hezekiah Blanchard and Captain Isaac Hall, both 



38 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, 

distilled liquors in this building prior to the War of the Revolution. 
In 1761 John Bishop bought the lot of land in the rear of the post office 
building and built a still house. It stood on the east side of the dock. 
Another distillery stood on the site of the building on Riverside Avenue, 
formerly occupied by the Medford Murcury. It was used as a pottery 
by John Sables, after it ceased to be used as a distillery. Both this 
building and the one built by Mr. Bishop were taken down about 1840. 
Hezekiah Blanchard owned a small distillery on the south side of the 
river and on the west side of Main Street, on the lot formerly occupied 
by Page and Curtin. Besides the persons named above, the distilUng 
business has been carried on by Joseph Hall, Joseph Swan, Hall and 
Manning, Nathaniel Hall, Fitch and Lawrence, Daniel Lawrence and 
Daniel Lawrence and sons. The manufacture of distilled spirits in 
Medford has recently been discontinued. 

BRICK MAKING. 

Medford has within its limits large and valuable deposits of clay, which 
have given to its inhabitants abundant material for the manufacture of 
brick. Brick making has been one of the leading industries of the town. 
The first recorded mention of clay lands in Medford was in 1660, when 
Edward Collins sold to Thomas Brooks and Timothy Wheeler 400 acres 
of land in West Medford and exempted therefrom two acres of land 
" adjoining to Thomas Eames' clay lands." These clay lands were 
situated just south of Boston Avenue and between Arhngton Street and 
the river. The two acres of land mentioned above were afterwards sold 
to Thomas Brooks, who made brick there in 1760. In 1714 Stephen 
WilUs, Jr., sold a lot of land where Bigelow Block now stands on the 
corner of Salem and Forest Streets, and it was bounded on the "east by 
said Willis' highway leading to his brickyard." This yard is now the 
site of the new high school building on Forest Street. Ashland Street 
was originally a way to the clay land situated to the north of Water 
Street, 

The great brickyards were situated on each side of Fulton Street and 
extended nearly from Forest Street to Maiden line. They were some- 
times called the Fountain yards, being in the vicinity of the Fountain 
Tavern. The Bradshaws, Tuftses and others made brick in these yards. 
Brick were made near the so called Cradock House, and that house was 
probably built from brick made near it. The )'ards in that vicinity have 
been for many years occupied by the Bay State and New England Brick 
Companies. Brick were once made on the land near where the Second 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 39 

Meeting House stood , by Caleb Brooks. There were numerous other 
places on the north side of the river where brick were made. South of 
the river were the " Sodom ' ' yards, where the Tuftses made brick. These 
yards were west of the Cradock Schoolhouse lot and between Summer 
and George Streets. Brickyard Lane led to them from South Street. 
Nathan Adams made brick on the north side of Main Street in a yard 
afterwards worked by Mr. Babbitt. The present EUiott Street runs 
through this yard. John Buzzell and Son made brick in the yard near 
the Tufts College Station of the Boston and Lowell Railroad. This 
yard is at present worked by John S. Maxwell. 

Another yard at the foot of Winter Hill near Winter Brook was worked 
for many years by Prosser and Littlefield, Thomas Casey and William 
H. Casey. 

The Massachusetts Brick Company was formed in 1865 and made 
brick by a new process. Their yard was situated between Buzzells 
Lane and Harvard Street. This enterprise was not a success; the bricks 
made by this process were not in favor with brickmasons for the reason 
that they had no cleavage it being impossible to break them where desir- 
able. 

WAGON BUILDING. 

In 1816 Jesse Crosby established on the triangular lot, comer of Mys- 
tic Avenue and Union Street, the business of a wheelwright and plough 
manufacturer. In 1839 he was succeeded by Elbridge Teel, who con- 
ducted the business until 1850 when Thomas O. Hill became his partner, 
under the firm name of Teel & Hill. In 1872 Josiah R. Teel became a 
member of the firm and the business was conducted under the name of 
E. Teel & Company. The specialty of this firm has been the manu- 
facture of milk, grocer, baker and express wagons and pungs, to which 
has recently been added automobiles and furnishings for the same. 

Alexander S. Symmes also estabUshed wagon building in connection 
with his blacksmith shop near the bridge. He was succeeded by his son 
Arthur C. Symmes, who still carries on the business. 

WELLMAN SOLE CUTTING MACHINE COMPANY. 

In 1894 the Wellman Company brought their plant to Medford and 
established business in their new shop on Swan Street. The company 
manufactures sole cutting machines and does other machine work. 
Allison M. Stickney of Medford is President of the Company and Edward 
Brooks of Milton, Treasurer. 



40 two hundred and seventy-fifth anniversary. 

whyte's wire works. 

In 1894 Oliver Whyte established a wire working business in the build- 
ing formerly occupied by the Wainwright Manufacturing Company on 
Swan Street, which he still carries on 

bakeries. 

One of the first bakers in Medford was Ebenezer Hall, who had a 
bakery on Salem Street and Distill House Lane. He lived in the old 
Cotting house that formerly stood on the corner of Salem and Forest 
Streets. In 1797 he sold out his business to Converse Francis, who car- 
ried on a successful business. In 1799 Mr. Francis bought the lot on 
the corner of Salem and Ashland Streets, where he built the house now 
occupied by the Medford Historical Society. He also built a bakery on 
the same lot. Mr. Francis was the inventor of the "Medford 
Cracker," which like ''Medford Rum" and "Medford Ships" carried 
the name and fame of Medford the world over. He was succeeded 
in 1818 by Timothy Brigden, who continued the business for some 
years. 

In 1824 Timothy Cotting bought the dwelling house and land corner 
of Salem and Forest Streets, and estabHshed a bakery which he carried 
on successfully for nearly fifty years. 

In 1825 Henry Withington associated himself with a Mr. Lane and 
established a bakery on Salem Street on the premises now occupied by 
W. S. Barker. After a few years Mr. Lane retired from the firm and 
Mr. Withington continued the business until 1862, when his son Henry 
Withington, Jr. succeeded him and carried on the business for many 
years. He was succeeded by McPherson & Company, William S. 
Barker and WiUiam S. Barker Jr., the present proprietor. 

MILLS. 

The first mention of a mill owned or occupied by Medford men may 
be found in a deed of Henry Dunster of Menotomy (Arlington) in Cam- 
bridge to Thomas Broughton of Boston. "All that parcel of land on 
which the Corn and FuUing Mills stand, which the said Thomas Brough- 
ton built on Menotomies land and in the river of Mistick * * *." 
Henry Dunster was President of Harvard College, and his deed is dated 
March 6, 1656. Although this mill was then situated in Charlestown, 
the fact that it soon afterwards came into the possession of a Medford 
man entitles it to mention here. Thomas Fames and Thomas Fille- 
brown, both residents of Medford are named in the early records as 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 41 

millers of Mistick Mills. Thomas Broughton sold to Edward Collins 
of Meadford and Mr. Collins sold to Brooks and Wheeler, after this sale 
the mill was called Wheeler's mill. The highway from Cambridge to 
Woburn, prior to the year 1700, ran over the dam of this mill, and while 
this mill and the dam connected therewith fell into disuse over two- 
hundred years ago, the site of the mill and raceway are plainly to be 
seen this day (June 15, 1905). Another mill is spoken of in the division 
of the estate of Major Jonathan Wade. Major Wade died in 1689, and 
a portion of his estate set off to his son Dudley Wade is described as 
follows; : " Also forty-eight acres of woodland and pasture, abutting upon 
Charlestown hne, and adjoining the widow's thirds comprehending the 
saw-mill, the dam and the pond into his bounds, allowing him the 
whole saw-mill (excepting the widow's thirds.) This mill was situated 
on Marble brook and the cellar of the mill, a portion of the dam and 
raceway can still be seen. 

The remains of an old time water mill are still visible on land owned 
by the Russell heirs. It was on Whitmore brook. Reference to the mill 
pond is made in a deed of the Administrator of the estate of Joseph 
Wyman to Wilham A. Russell, Jr., dated May 19, 1843, " * * * 
and the mill pond meadow five acres * * * * * _'» 
Still further down Whitmore brook in what was called the middle field 
and a short distance above the "Playstead" was a mill pond and dam. 
In 1740 Francis Whitmore deeds to John Whitmore a lot of land with 
"a right of way to repair the dam in the middle field." In 1689 the 
town voted to petition the General Court for hberty to build a gristmill 
on the river, "near and above Mistick bridge." Also in 1700 it was 
voted to petition the General Court for Hberty to build a corn-mill at 
"Gravelly Bank near Mistick Bridge." Nothing was done towards 
building these proposed mills. About 1730 John Albree built a mill on a 
branch of Marble brook. It stood about six rods southwest of Purchase 
Street (now Winthrop) and was used for the weaving of cloth, the pre- 
paring of wool for spinning and for wood turning. 

In 1746 the tide mill that stood on the wharf near the foot of Cross 
Street, and lately owned by the Manning heirs, was built. The under- 
takers agreed to erect a good gristmill on a lot of land given by Benjamin 
Parker, the same to be ready to go at or before the last day of September, 
1746. They also agree to build a road two rods wide from near the 
present River Street to the mill, and to build a bridge over Gravelly Creek 
of stone. Richard Sprague and others agree to give the land over which 
the road passes. John WiUis and Benjamin Parker give hberty to cut a 



42 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

ditch from Gravelly Creek to the mill and to build a dam. Dr. Simon 
Tufts and others bind themselves never to obstruct the free flow of water 
to the mill. The several owners of the mill since its construction were 
Timothy Waite, Seth Blodget, Mathew Bridge, John Bishop, John 
Bishop, Jr., Gershom Cutter, Samuel Cutter, George T. Goodwin, Joseph 
Manning. This mill was destroyed by fire a few years ago. A grist and 
saw-mill stood on Mystic Avenue near the Somerville Une. It was 
owned and operated for many years by Gershom Cutter. It was 
destroyed by fire many years ago. 

SLAVERY IN MEDFORD. 

There is no evidence that slavery existed in Meadford Plantation 
during the ownership of Mr. Mathew Cradock. But in 1655, according 
to the records of the Court, soon after Edward CoUins purchased Mead- 
ford Plantation of the Cradock heirs, we find one of his servants, Elline» 
a Pequot woman, sentenced to be whipped, and again in 1657 two negro 
servants of Mr. Collins were subjected to the same treatment. In 1678 
Nathaniel Wade of Medford requested permission of the Court to ex- 
change an Indian boy, his servant, for an English captive. In the in- 
ventory of Major Jonathan Wade's personal estate we find five negroes 
appraised at ;^97. There were others of Medford inhabitants who held 
slaves prior to 1700. In 1755 the number of slaves in Medford, sixteen 
years of age and upwards, was thirty-four ; twenty seven males and seven 
females. The only other town returning a larger number was Cam- 
bridge, which reported a total of fifty-six. In a report of a census taken 
in 1764-5, it is found that Medford statistics show 104 houses, 147 fam- 
ilies and a total population of 790, of whom 49 are negroes. This shows 
that an unusual number of negroes were living in Medford during those 
years, probably mostly slaves. One reason perhaps for the large pro- 
portion of negroes in Medford at that period may be due to the fact that 
the coin most current in their purchase was largely manufactured in 
Medford. When Isaac Royall came to the Province of Massachusetts 
Bay he brought with him from the Island of Antiqua, a number of slaves, 
and he petitioned the General Court that the duty of four pounds per 
head might be remitted as they were for his own use and not for sale. 
The petition was tabled and never acted upon. Col. Isaac Royall writ- 
ing to Dr. Simon Tufts, his agent, after his departure for England, gives 
instructions for the disposal of his slaves, and shows some interest in 
their welfare. Likewise Deacon Benjamin Willis showed his good will 
towards his negro woman, Cloe, by providing that her freedom be given 




LU "-i 

CO g 

X Q. 

, I- 



O to 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 43 

her immediately after his decease, and by leaving her sundry articles of 
personal estate, to add to her comfort. The inhabitants of Medford 
at a meeting held August 18, 1718, voted as follows: " Put to vote 
whether every inhabitant of this town shall when they buy any servant, 
male or female, be obliged to acquaint and inform the Selectmen of said 
town for their approbation," voted in the affirmative. 

September 17, 1734 it was "voted, thai: all negro, Indian and mulatto 
servants that are found abroad without leave and not in their master's 
business shall be taken up and whipped ten stripes on their naked body 
by any freeholder of the town, and be carried to their respective masters, 
and said master shall be obhged to pay the sum of 2s., 6d. in money to 
said person that shall do so." This fugitive slave law of Medford ante- 
dates the fugitive slave law passed by the Congress of the United States 
by many years. In 1735 the town voted that "any person of said town 
that shall see any negro servant belonging to said town from home after 
nine of the clock at night, and if said servant cannot satisfy the person 
that meets or finds him from home, the negro's name shall be returned 
to the Justice the next morning and desire the Justice to send for the said 
negro's master and order the negro to be whipped in the market place, 
not excedinge ten stripes, unless the said master gives satisfaction." 
One of Colonel Isaac Royall's slaves, named Belinda, after fifty years of 
servitude petitioned the General Court in 1783 for an allowance out of 
the estate of said Royall for herself and her infirm daughter, and the 
Court "on the petition of Behnda, the African, Resolved, that there be 
paid out of the treasury of this commonwealth, out of the rents and prof- 
its arising from the estate of the late Isaac Royall, Esq., fifteen pounds 
twelve shilHngs, per annum, to Behnda an aged servant of the late Isaac 
Royall, Esq., an absentee, until the further order of the General Court, 
for reasons set forth in said Belinda's petition." As early as 17 16 Judge 
Sewall of Massachusetts says, "I assayed to prevent negroes and Indians 
being rated vnih horses and cattle, but could not succeed.' ' The adop- 
tion of the Constitution of Massachusetts, in which it was declared that 
"all men are born free and equal" settled the question of slavery in the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

TAVERNS. 

For many years the most direct route of land travel from northern 
and eastern New England to Boston was through the town of Medford 
and over Mystic Bridge. This brought to the town a large amount of 
travel and more tavern accommodations were required than were usual 



44 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

to a place of the size and importance of Medford. Medford taverns 
acquired a high reputation for their excellent accommodations even as 
early as 1686. Mr. John Dunton, who visited Medford in that year 
says: "took sanctuary in a Public, where there was extra-ordinary good 
Cyder, and tho' I hadn't such a Noble Treat as at Captain Jenner's, 
yet with the Cyder and such other Entertainment as the House afiforded 
(together with my Landlord and my Landlady's good company) I made 
a very pretty thing on't. By this time the rain was over tho' it still re- 
mained Cloudy; and therefore I thought it was best taking Time by the 
Forelock and go back to Boston while it held up, there being nothing 
remarkable to be seen at Meadford, which is but a small Village con- 
sisting of a few Houses." In the records of the County Court for the 
year 1686 there is evidence showing that hcenses were granted to persons 
in other towns of the Colony to keep Houses of Entertainment, but none 
to Medford parties; so that it leaves us uncertain where Mr. Dunton was 
entertained, perhaps at a private house. The first record of a house of 
entertainment in Medford was in 1690, when Daniel Woodward upon 
the recommendation of the Selectmen was licensed by the County Court. 
Thomas Willis was the next tavern keeper in Medford, and his house 
was located at the foot of "Marm Simonds' Hill" on the north side of 
High Street and next adjoining the lot through which runs Marble brook, 
where a tavern was kept for many years by Pierce, Usher, Putnam and 
others. 

The Fountain Tavern was built prior to 17 13, for in that year Thomas 
Secomb owned the house and was licensed to keep a tavern. He was 
succeeded by Francis Leathe, Capt. Samuel Wade and others. In 1775 
the house was kept by Thomas Bradshaw. 

The Royal Oak Tavern. In 17 17 Benjamin Willis bought the land 
on which this tavern stood and was licensed as an innholder in 1720. 
The house stood on the Corner of Main Street and Riverside Avenue, as 
those ways are now called. Mr. Willis was succeeded by John Brad- 
shaw, Mrs. Sarah Floyd, Benjamin and Hugh Floyd and others. 
Ebenezer Hills, who was landlord in 1774, sold to Jonathan Porter, 
who kept the house until 1786, when he took down the old building and 
built the one now standing on the premises. The old swinging sign 
that hung in front of this tavern is dated 1769. It is in a good state of 
preservation, evidently it is older than its date would seem to indicate. 
The name of the last landlord is painted over that of his predecessor. 
A buUet hole through this sign gives rise to a tradition that it was shot 
from the gun of a minute man returning from the battle of Lexington, 
April 19, 1775- 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 4$ 

The Admiral Vernon Tavern. In 1717 Aaron Cleveland bought of 
John Usher land on the corner of Main and Swan Streets, and soon after 
built the house afterwards called the Admiral Vernon Tavern. He was 
licensed as an innholder in 1720. In 1738 he sold the estate to Isaac 
Royall, senior. Among the landlords succeeding Mr. Cleveland were 
Capt. Samuel Wade, John Reed, Abraham Skinner, John Bradshaw, 
WiUiam Pierce, WiUiam Jones and others. Moses BiUings was the 
landlord from 1768 to 1777. He was succeeded by Edward Shaw and 
others. In 1792 James Tufts was licensed to keep an inn in the Admiral 
Vernon and continued as its landlord until 1801, when the house became 
a private dwelling. It was destroyed in the great fire of 1850. This 
tavern was the headquarters of the New Hampshire troops, and where 
they rallied after the'Lexington affair and here it was that John Stark 
was elected Colonel of the regiment by hand ballot. 

Mead's Tavern. This tavern was kept by Israel Mead from 1758 to 
1762. The house stood where the City Hall now stands. 

Blanchard's Tavern. The house afterwards called Blanchard's Tavern 
was built in 1752 by Benjamin Parker, at one time treasurer of Medford. 
It was located on the lot next south of the bridge and on the west side 
of Main Street. The Metropolitan Park Commission have taken the 
lot for park purposes. Hezekiah Blanchard, senior, occupied the house 
for some years before he was licensed as an innholder, which was in 1780. 
After Mr. Blanchard purchased the estate he enlarged the old house by 
the addition of a dancing hall, etc.,calhng it Union Hall. During the lat- 
ter days of the occupancy of this building as a tavern, there was suspended 
from the ceiUng in the center of the dancing hall the model of a full rigged 
man of war (the Chesapeake) and upon its flag was inscribed the dying 
words of Captain Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship." A sign post 
with a swinging sign and the inscription "Union Hall, H. Blanchard" 
with a foul anchor as its emblem stood at the southerly end of the build- 
ing. This house was very popular in its day. Mr. Blanchard, senior, 
was succeeded by his son, Hezekiah Blanchard, junior, and he in turn 
was succeeded by his sons, Isaac W. and Samuel Blanchard. The 
property was sold in 1833 to Joseph James, who in company with Milton 
James established a lumber yard on the premises. A portion of the old 
tavern house was sold to Jacob Butters, who removed it to a location on 
Main Street opposite the head of Mystic Avenue, where it was remodeled 
into a double dwelling house. It is still standing and is numbered 133 
and 135 Main Street. 

The Medford House. This house built in 1804 was opened as a public 
house in 1805. Its first landlord was John Jaquith. He was succeeded 



46 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

by his widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Jaquith, Seth Mayo, Rufus Frost, Samuel 
Kendall and others. After the town, by a decision of the Court, was 
deprived of the use of the meeting house for town meetings, Kendall's 
Tavern, as this house was then called, was used for that purpose until 
the building of the town house. In 1835 a company of thirtyfive gentle- 
men and one lady formed an association, known by the name of the Med- 
ford Hotel Association, for the purpose of purchasing certain lands and 
tenements in Medford to be used and occupied as a Hotel. The capital 
stock consisted of one hundred and thirty-three shares, par value per 
share one hundred dollars. Under this association, which had for its 
main purpose the keeping of a temperance house, the building was en- 
larged. In the upper story of the addition was a large and commodious 
dancing hall. The first landlord under the new arrangement was Mar- 
cus Whitney, and he was succeeded by David Carleton and James Bride. 
The movement for the keeping of a temperance house failed, and in 1845 
the estate was sold to Augustus Baker, who kept the house for many 
years. He was succeeded by A. J. Emerson, Peter A. Garvey, Daniel 
K. Emerson, Charles H. Day and J. F. Folsom. The house is at the 
present time under the management of F. M. Viles, and is known as 
the Medford Inn. 

The Canal House. This house stood upon land now the northwest 
comer of Boston Avenue and Arlington Street. It was opened and chiefly 
used for the accommodation of persons navigating the Middlesex Canal. 
Among its landlords were Bowen Crehoe, Joseph Wyatt and Jeremiah 
Gilson. 

There were many persons licensed as innholders in Medford whose 
places of business cannot be located. It is hardly fair however to speak 
of such places as taverns, for they were only places for the sale of liquors 
and the same may also be said of some of those previously mentioned. 

MILITARY HISTORY. 

The plantation of Meadford commenced at an early date to bear its 
proportion of the expense of the public defence. The General Court, 
at a meeting held September 28, 1630, levied a tax of three pounds upon 
the plantation, for the payment of two instructors in military tactics, 
(Captains Underbill and Patrick) and in 1632 and 1633 levied a tax of 
two pounds for each year for the same purpose. 

July 26, 1631, the Court ordered "that every first Friday in every 
month there shall be a general training of them that inhabit Charles- 
town, Mistick and the new town." (Cambridge.) 




COL. GODFREY RYDER 



COL. ASA LAW 



MILITARY GROUP 
CAPT. JOHN HUTCHINS 



CAPT. CHARLES CURRIER 



COL. JOPHANUS H. WHITNEY 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 47 

Some of Mr. Cradock's men did not obey the above order, for we find 
him fined three pounds "for his men being absent from training divers 
times." 

In the time of the Pequod war (1637) the General Court chose 160 men 
for service in the field, and as one of the fourteen towns or plantations 
in the Colony, Meadford's proportion was one man. Mr. Cradock's 
men were largely engaged in fishing and ship building and the frequent 
calls upon them for military duty, interfered with their occupations, 
and these being occupations that it was for the interest of the Colony 
to foster, caused the General Court to order in 1639 that, "Fishermen, 
while they are abroad during fishing seasons. Ship Carpenters which 
follow the calling, and Millers shall be exempt from training, yet they 
are to be furnished with arms." 

At a later date it was provided that millers and boatmen, and fishermen 
unless constantly employed in fishing, shall attend all trainings ■ and 
watches, as other soldiers, or make allowances to their company. Thomas 
Fillebrown of Meadford, miller of Mistick Cornmills, was released 
from ordinary trainings and paid eighteen pence per diem to his company. 

In 1658 the inhabitants of Meadford petitioned the General Court for 
liberty to join the trainband of Cambridge, and the Court said, "In 
answer to the request of the inhabitants of Meadford, the Court judgeth 
it meet to grant their request, i. e. liberty to list themselves in the train- 
band of Cambridge, and be no longer compelled to travel unto Charles- 
town." 

In 1674 Meadford men were allowed to train at home, as will be seen 
by the following action of the Court. " It is further ordered, in rela- 
tion to Meadford, that the soldiers there, shall be exercised by a sergeant, 
such as the Major of the regiment shall appoint." 

In 1677 Mr. Jonathan Wade of Meadford was appointed Captain in 
the " Three County Troop," which was in active service during King 
Philip's war. He was afterwards Major of the same troop, as was also 
his brother Nathaniel Wade. 

In 1675 Meadford was taxed five pounds "for defence against the 
Indians." Medford men were engaged in the Indian wars of this 
period. John Bradshaw, Jr., was in the fight at Tvurner's Falls, in 
Captain William Turner's Company, and in 1689 John Whitmore was 
impressed into the service and served against the Indians near Saco, 
Maine. His wife Rachel petitioned the Governor and Magistrates that 
he be dismissed from further service on account of sickness in his family. 

In 1704 Capt. Peter Tufts and his troop of horse was ordered to the 
pursuit of the Indians, who made the attack on Groton and massacred 



48 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

the inhabitants. William Tufts, Jr., i8 years of age, was at Louisburg 
in 1745 and in 1748 Captain Samuel Brooks, with his Company of 60 
men, were ready for duty at a moment's warning. 

In the French and Indian wars, Medford furnished its quota of men 
for active service. Among others were Captains Caleb Brooks, Seth 
Blodget and Ebenezer Marrow. 

In the years preceding the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, 
Medford, like other towns in the province, was preparing herself for the 
conflict that was known to be inevitable. 

March 5, 1770, a lad named John Clark, 17 years of age was wounded 
at the "Boston Massacre". He was a native of Medford. 

In 1774 Medford's stock of powder was stored in the "Old Powder 
House," now in the limits of Somerville, and near the Medford line. 
The people, becoming anxious in regard to its safety in that place, Mr. 
Thomas Patten was sent on the 27th of August of that year, to remove it 
to a place of safety. Three days later General Gage, the commander 
of the British troops, sent soldiers from Boston who seized upon and re- 
moved all that remained to Castle William, in Boston Harbor. 

In October, 1774, Mr. Benjamin Hall of Medford, was appointed a 
member of the committee on supplies and the committee began to get 
together stores and other necessities for the support of troops, and Con- 
cord and Worcester were made depots for the same. 

In November, seven cannon were bought and Mr. Benjamin Hall and 
Mr. Gill were requested to remove them from Boston to some safe place 
in the country. Without doubt they were stored in Medford, for on 
the 28th of April, 1775, it was ordered by the Committee of Safety, sitting 
at Cambridge, "that the cannon now in Medford, be immediately 
brought to this place, under direction of Captain Foster." In March 
of that year, Mr. Hall sent to Concord 60 bbls. of pork, 50 axes and 
helves 50 wheelbarrows and material for constructing barracks. 

The Provincial Congress ordered that Companies of Minute men 
should be formed in all the towns. In Medford there was a company 
of Militia already organized, and in 1775 it was commanded by Captain 
Isaac Hall, whose residence is still standing on High Street, corner of 
Bradley Road. It was here in the early morning of April 19, 1775, that 
Captain Hall was aroused by Paul Revere, who was on his way from 
Boston to Lexington and Concord, and notified of the march of the 
British troops, who had been sent out to destroy the stores at Concord, 
which the committee on supphes had caused to be stored there. The 
Medford Minute Men, 59 in all, were on their way early in the morning 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 49 

and did their share in the defeat of the British troops on that day. They 
brought home with them one of their number, William PoUey, son of 
Jacob and Hannah Polley, who had received a mortal wound at Menoto- 
my from which he died six days later, (the 25th.) There were other 
Medford men in action on that day who were not members of the com- 
pany. The Rev. Edward Brooks was at Lexington. His son Peter 
C. Brooks wrote of him, "He went over to Lexington on the 19th of 
April, 1775 on horseback, with his gun on his shoulder, and in his full- 
bottomed wig." 

Henry Putnam was killed at Menotomy, and tradition says that two 
men named Smith and Francis fell upon that day. Doubtless there were 
others who were engaged in the fight, but no record of their names has 
been preserved. 

Captain Hall and his company were in the service 5 days. The com- 
pany afterwards enhsted for eight months. In March, 1776 they were 
at Dorchester assisting in building the fortifications. There is no evi- 
dence that either Capt. Hall or any of his command were in the engage- 
ment at Bunker Hill. The probabilities are that they were not there. 

The news of the engagements at Lexingon and Concord aroused the 
whole country. Men from New Hampshire assembled at the "Admiral 
Vernon Tavern" in Medford, and chose by hand ballot, John Stark as 
their commander. Colonel Stark estabUshed his headquarters at the 
Admiral Vernon, and later he occupied the Royall House. These New 
Hampshire troops were engaged at Bunker Hill and a number of them 
were killed. In 1849 the remains of twenty-five men, supposed to have 
been New Hampshire soldiers, were found on Water Street by workmen 
engaged in digging a cellar. These remains were removed to the 
Salem Street burying ground, and a tablet has recently been erected to 
their memory. 

Prior to the battle five boats had been built at Charlestown Neck, and 
the selectmen of Medford were ordered to take a party of men and launch 
them, and carry them up the Mystic River. 

After the Battle of Bunker Hill, the people of the whole country around 
Boston were filled with alarm, for the British troops were expected to 
march out into the country at any time. The people of Medford es- 
pecially feared an attack by water. 

WiUiam Tudor, writing from Cambridge, June 23, 1775, said, "Since 
the fight at Charlestown, Brooklyn, Cambridge, Medford, Lynn, Salem, 
Chelsea, and Maiden are deserted by the women and children, whilst 
the Houses back in the Country, are crowded with the wretched Refu- 
gees from British Fury and cruelty." 



50 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

After the battle at Charlestown, Winter Hill was occupied by the Pro- 
vincial Troops, who immediately commenced to throw up fortifications. 

On June 22 the Provincial Congress requested the town of Medford, 
"to immediately supply Major Hale with as many spades and shovels as 
they can spare, as it is of importance to the safety of this Colony that 
the works begun on Winter Hill be finished, and that they will be re- 
tarded unless soon supplied with tools." 

July 12, 1775, Gen. Washington, evidently fearing an attack on Med- 
ford and vicinity, ordered that one thousand men should be stationed 
in and around Medford, considering that number sufficient for the time 
being. The General made the Royall House his headquarters a portion 
of the summer of 1775. 

Extract from the journal of Benjamin Crafts : — " Sunday (August) 
13th, two Regulars deserted from Bunker's Hill, swam over to Maiden, 
and was carried to Royal's, Gen. Washington's headquarters." 

Mr. Nowell of Boston, in his dairy says: — " August 6, 1775. several 
soldiers brought over here wounded. The house at Penny-Ferry at 
Maiden side burnt." "August 13th several Gondolas sailed up Mystic 
River, upon which the Provincials and they had a skirmish ; many shots 
were exchanged, but nothing decisive." 

Medford men were in the ill-fated expedition against Quebec under 
Benedict Arnold. The troops marched from Cambridge, September 
3rd, 1775 and camped in Medford that night. 

During the winter of 1775-6 the troops suffered severely from the cold, 
and the people of Medford cut down "the White pine trees, which his 
Majesty had reserved for the Royal Navy." 

Tradition says that Walnut Tree Hill (College Hill) was at that time 
covered with a growth of walnut trees, and that they were cut down for the 
use of the army. 

When the British troops evacuated Boston, Washington transferred 
most of his army to New York. Several Medford men were among his 
troops. 

Medford men were enrolled in Lieut. Col. John Brooks' Regiment 
and took part in the campaign against Burgoyne. 

After the surrender of the British troops at Saratoga, a portion of them 
(the Hessians) were quartered at Winter Hill. 

Medford men were also at White Plains, Valley Forge and in other 
engagements during the war. 

Medford also furnished men for service in the war of 181 2 and the 
Mexican War. 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 5 1 

In 1786 Major General Brooks certified to the Governor of the Com- 
monwealth, that he thought it expedient that a divisionary corps should 
be raised in his division. Medford men petitioned for a charter. The 
petition was granted and the company organized Nov. 29, 1786, and was 
known as the Medford Light Infantry. It retained its organization 
until 1828, when it surrendered its charter and its members were en- 
rolled in the Medford Militia Company. In September, 1841, fifty- 
two citizens of Medford petitioned for a charter to establish a company 
of volunteer militia. The petition was granted and the company or- 
ganized under the name of the Brooks Phalanx. This company re- 
signed its charter in 1849. 

The Lawrence Light Guard was organized October i, 1854. It was 
known as Company E, Fifth Massachusetts Light Infantry. 

In 1861 when Fort Sumter was attacked and the Capital of the Na- 
tion was threatened, President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000, three 
month troops, for the defence of Washington. Massachusetts promptly 
responded and the Lawrence Light Guard, Captain John Hutchins com- 
mander, under orders from Col. Samuel C. Lawrence, issued the i8th 
of April, were soon in readiness. The Fifth Regiment left Boston on 
the 2ist of April and proceeded at once to Washington. It was must- 
ered into the service of the United States for three months from the first 
of May. On the 21st of July a battle took place at Bull Run, in which 
the Fifth Massachusetts Regiment was engaged. Col. Lawrence was 
wounded in the side, by splinters from a shattered tree. Sergeant 
William H. Lawrence, color-bearer, was shot through the breast, Corpo- 
ral William J. Crooker received a scalp wound and private John H. 
Hoyt was taken prisoner. Ten days after the battle, the Fifth Regi- 
ment was mustered out of service, and the Light Guard returned to 
Medford. 

In 1862 when the President issued a call for 300,000 men to serve for 
three years, or the war, Medford was called upon to raise her quota of 88 
men, and the selectmen, by direction of Governor Andrew, acted as recruit- 
ing officers. A bounty of $75.00 afterwards raised to $100.00 failed to 
secure the requisite number of volunteers. In this emergency the select- 
men called upon the Lawrence Light Guard to volunteer to fill the quota 
of the town. The company promptly responded, opened their armory 
as a recuiting office and on the 14th of August had enhsted a full com- 
pany of loi men for three years, or the war, and under the command of 
Captain Hutchins, formed Company C of the Thirty-ninth Regiment, 
commanded by Col. P. H. Davis. Early in September the regiment was 



52 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

ordered to Washington and after a short stay in the vicinity of that city, 
it was sent to Edwards' Ferry on the Maryland side of the Potomac. In 
April, 1863 it was again ordered to Washington, where it acted as part 
of the Provost Guard to the city. In July, 1863, the regiment was sent 
to join the army of the Potomac under the command of Gen. Meade. 
In December it went into winter quarters at Mitchell's Station, Va. On 
the 25th of March, 1864 the regiment became a part of the Fifth Army 
Corps; and May 3rd advanced into the Wilderness and took part in 
several engagements in that place in which Company C suffered severe- 
ly in killed and wounded. On the 17th of June the regiment was en- 
gaged in an engagement before Petersburg ; the beginning of a protracted 
struggle before that city. On July 6th, Col. Davis was killed by a shell 
while sitting outside his tent. August 19th, in an action along the line 
of the Weldon Railroad, several Medford men were taken prisoners. 

In September the Thirty-ninth Regiment was placed in Gen. Sheri- 
dan's command and took part in the campaign against Petersburg, 
which resulted in its surrender. 

The 2nd day of June, 1865, the regiment was mustered out of the ser- 
vice of the United States, and Company C at once started for home, 
where they arrived on June loth. 

After the departure of the three year troops, a call was made for 
volunteers for nine months' service, and a bounty of $200.00 was offered 
to each man who would volunteer to fill the quota. On the 23rd of 
September, 1862, the company being full, it was mustered into service 
of the United States, and left for Camp Lander, Captain Charles 
Currier, commanding. This company was known as Company F of 
the Fifth Massachusetts Volunteers. The regiment under the command 
of Colonel Pierson embarked for Beaufort, N. C, Oct. 22, 1862, where 
it arrived four days later. Soon after it reached its destination, orders 
were given to proceed to the Wilmington and Sheldon Railroad, in or- 
der to cut off rebel supplies etc. The movement was successful and the 
regiment went into winter quarters at Newburn. In April, 1863, the 
campaign commenced that ended in the reduction of the rebel works at 
Washington, N. C. and the capture of the rebel position at Moseley's 
Creek. Soon after, the time service of the regiment having expired, it 
was ordered home, where it arrived June 26, 1863. 

On July 14, 1863, th^ draft riot occured in Boston. Brigadier Gen- 
eral Samuel C. Lawrence issued orders to the Colonels of the Fifth and 
Sixth Regiments to assemble their companies in their armories and hold 
them in readiness for instant duty. Captain Charles Currier, of Com- 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 53 

pany E, Fifth Regiment, was the first to report his company ready for 
service, and it was detailed for duty at the Arsenal at Watertown. 

Medford men served in other organizations than those above men- 
tioned. The total number of men furnished by the town during the 
war was 769. 

The breaking out of the Spanish- American war in 1898 found the 
Lawrence Light Guard under the command of Captain J. C. D. Clark 
in readiness for service. 

As Company E of the Fifth Massachusetts Infantry, commanded 
by Colonel Jophanus H. Whitney of Medford, it was mustered into the 
service of the United States and went into winter quarters at Greenville, 
South Carolina. 

After remaining in camp through the winter months they were ordered 
home and mustered out of the United States service, March 31, 1899. 
Several Medford men were in service in other organizations, and also 
in the navy. 

The Lawrence Rifle. This company was organized under the order 
of Gov. John A. Andrew, and when organized was attached to the Fifth 
Regiment, as Company E afterwards changed to Company F. In 
1874 its charter was transferred to a company formed in Waltham, and 
its membership was merged in that of the Lawrence Light Guard. 

The armory of the LawTence Light Guard was built by Gen. S. C. 
LawTcnce as a memorial to his father Daniel Lawrence. It was com- 
pleted and occupied by the Company June 30, 1902. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

In 1647 the General Court passed a law making it obHgatory on towns 
of fifty families to maintain elementary schools, where children should 
be taught to read and write, and those of one hundred families should 
also have a grammar school, the masters thereof being able to instruct 
youth so far as they may be fitted for the university. 

It was not until seventy-two years after the passage of this law that 
Medford's population was of suflGicient numbers so as to require the es- 
tabhshmentof a school. Several times the subject of a school was agi- 
tated, but no definite action was taken until Nov. 30, 17 19, when the 
town voted to have a school kept in the house of Thomas WiUis, Jr., and 
a committee of three was appointed to secure a teacher. At a town 
meeting held Dec. 11, 17 19, Mr. Henry Davison was chosen to keep 
school for one-quarter of a year next ensuing, and it was voted to pay 
him three pounds and board for keeping the school. A committee of 



54 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

six were selected to notify Mr. Davison of the action of the town, and 
in case Mr. Davison do not accept, to agree with some other suitable 
person on the terms aforesaid. Mr. Davison accepted the terms offered 
by the town and thus became the first public school teacher inMedford. 

At a meeting held Dec. 12, 1720, the town voted to raise eight pounds, 
and that there be two schools, one in each end of the town, and the 
money to be divided equally between each school. Committees were 
chosen to employ teachers for the same, and Mr. Henry Davison was 
chosen to keep the east school, and Mr. Caleb Brooks to keep the west 
school. Some years later we find from the town treasurer's account, 
that Deacon Wilhs rented a school room to the town, and after his de- 
cease, widow Susanna Willis continued to rent a room to the town for 
school purposes. 

At a town meeting held Oct. 5, 1730, it was voted " to build a scoole 
house" and a committee of five men were chosen "to consider of Place 
where, and of what demention it may be proper for to build sd house and 
what the cost may be.' ' The committee reported at an adjourned meet- 
ing held Oct. 19, "that it would be Proper for the Town to Build their 
Scoole House, Twenty-four foot long, and Twenty foot wide, and ten 
foot stud & the place they were of opinion to Build on was the Town 
land by the Meeting House, Joining near Ebenezer Brooks Junr. land, 
the Nor-west Corner of said House to be at a stake and a stone which 
they have Prefixed." The report was accepted, but the town refused 
to raise the money for the purpose. Two more attempts were made to 
build without producing the desired result, but at a meeting held Sept. 
25, 1732, the town voted to build a school house, the same to be finished 
by the twenty -fifth of November next ensuing, and a committee of three 
were appointed to build the house. The house was located and built as 
recommended by the committee chosen Oct. 5, 1730. The location of 
this lot of land is on the southerly side of High Street, just east of and 
adjoining Marble or Meeting-house Brook. This first school house 
served the town until 1771. At a meeting held March 11, 1771, it was 
voted to provide a spot for the use of a school and " to build the house 
upon the land behind the meeting house, on the north v, est corner of the 
land, and a committee was chosen to bring in a plan or plans, the first 
Monday in April." At the adjourned meeting held as aforesaid, the 
vote to build upon the meeting house lot was reconsidered and it was 
" voted to purchase a piece of land of Mr. Jonathan Watson, thirty-five 
feet square between his house and Mr. Putnam's, and to give him for 
the sd land Fifty Milld Dollars." It was also "voted to build a School 
House upon sd land purchased of said Watson." 




HELEN TILDEN WILD 
JAMES M. USHER 



MEDFORD HISTORIANS 
Rev. CHARLES BROOKS 



MOSES WHITCHER MANN 
ELIZUR WRIGHT 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 55 

The house of Jonathan Watson above referred to is the house now- 
standing on High Street next west from the First Parish Church, and 
the Putnam House is the next house west. The school lot was small 
and the plan of the house was such that it was necessarily set close to 
Mr. Watson's line. This was foreseen prior to the deed being made, 
for it was provided therein, that the town might enter upon the remain- 
ing land of Mr. Watson in order to make repairs, etc. This second 
school house was soon outgrown, forat a meeting held June 5, 1795, the 
town ''voted to build a new school house of brick behind the meeting 
house. The meeting house stood where the First Parish Church now 
stands. The third school house in town soon became too small to ac- 
commodate the children of the town, and on March 2, 1807, the town 
voted to enlarge the house and "to dig a well and Fix a pump in the 
same, with a Basin chained on." 

The establishment of ship-building as a permanent industry in Med- 
ford caused a great increase in the population of the town, and as a con- 
sequence more school accommodations and more teachers were required. 
From a report made to the town April 5, 1819 by a committee chosen for 
the purpose of considering school accommodations and organization, 
it was found that the town contained 202 householders, 159 boys and 
158 girls, above the age of seven years, and that neither of the above 
numbers do contain the children that belong to Doctr Stearns' or Miss 
Hannah Swans' school, excepting those that belong to the town. They 
also found that there were 117 children of both sexes over four years of 
age and under seven years of age that require to be taught by women 
teachers. 

The committee recommended, that the school committee be author- 
ized to employ three women teachers for six months, who are to teach 
the girls of all ages, from four years old and upwards, and the boys from 
four years old to seven, unless they are sufficiently qualified to go to the 
master's school, and that one of these schools be kept at the westerly 
part of the town, somewhere near Brooks' Corner, so called. That the 
other school be kept at the school house by the Meeting House. That 
the other be kept at the easterly part of the town somewhere near "Mile 
Lane' ', so called, where a place can be provided for the accommodation 
of said school. The east school was kept at the house of Rhoda Turner 
on "Mile Lane" or Riverside Avenue. The house stood within the 
present limits of the Boston and Maine Railroad Companies' freight 
yard. 



56 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

The west school was kept at the house of Jeduthan Richardson, corner 
of High Street and Hastings Lane, directly opposite the house of Jona- 
than Brooks, or Brooks' Corner. 

At a town meeting held Feb. 3, 1823, a petition was presented to the 
town, asking for a school house in the easterly part of the town. This 
petition was referred to a committee who reported that "they have as- 
certained the number of children living in that district to be of boys from 
7 to 16, 56, boys from 5 to 7, and girls from 5 to 16, 80, about 136, and 
they recommend that the town build a brick school house, with a small 
outhouse, on the front line of the Burying place, at an expense not ex- 
ceeding $425.00." The report was accepted and the Selectmen in- 
structed to advertise for proposals. At a subsequent meeting it was 
"voted that the Selectmen be a Committee to contract for a new School 
House upon the front part of the new burying ground, with a suitable 
outhouse, all of brick, so that the same shall not exceed the sum of $500. 
to be paid by the town." This was the Cross Street school house. Its 
dimensions were, length 28 feet, breadth 23 feet, and 10 feet high from 
the stone foundation. 

Nov. I, 1824 it was "voted to divide the town into two districts, to be 
called the Eastern and Western." The town was so divided that all 
east of Mill Creek, including the Stoneham road (Fulton Street) formed 
the east district and all the rest of the town including the Andover and 
Medford Turnpike (Forest Street) formed the west district. 

The east end thus being provided with a school house, the west end 
soon came before the town for better school accommodations; accord- 
ingly, the town voted March 2, 1829 "to build a school house of wood 
in the west part of the town." The place selected was on Woburn 
Street on land bought of Jonathan Brooks. After two years of use the 
location proved unsatisfactory and at a town meeting held July 29, 1831, 
a committee was chosen to move the house from Woburn Street to Canal 
Street, on the corner of the Poor House lot. 

At a meeting held April i, 1833 the town voted to build a school house 
in the eastern district, not to exceed $400.00 in the whole expense thereof 
to the town. This house was situated on the south side of Riverside 
Avenue in the northwest corner of Magoun's shipyard. 

In 1834 the town directed the school committee "so to arrange the 
town schools, that the girls shall enjoy equal priviledges with the boys." 
Girls first had the privilege of attending the town school by authority 
of a vote passed at a town meeting held May 13, 1766, "that the Com- 
mittee have power to agree with their Schoolmasters to instruct Girls 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 57 

2 hours in a day after the boys are dismissed." How long the girls re- 
tained the privileges hereby granted it is impossible to determine, it ap- 
pears from the records, however, that the privileges obtained were not 
permanent, for at an adjourned meeting of the town held May, 1790, it 
was voted that the "girls have liberty to attend the Master's School the 
three Summer months." At a town meeting held June 20, 1794, it was 
voted "that from the first of May to the first of October, the public 
school shall be kept 8 hours every day viz: 4 hours in the morning and 
4 hours in the afternoon, ***** said time to be 
divided equally between the sexes — during the rest of the year, the hours 
to be as heretofore, and to be appropriated to the instruction of the boys 
exclusively." It vvas also voted "that no children whether male or fe- 
male be admitted into the Public School under the age of seven years, 
nor then unless they have been previously taught to read the English lan- 
guage by spelling the same." And it was further voted " that the select- 
men are hereby impowered to pay school mistresses for instructing those 
children who are excluded from the Public Town School, and whose 
parents are unable to defray such extra expense." Under this vote they 
continued for many years to pay for the instruction of the class of children 
above named, at private or "Dame Schools" as they were called. 

At a meeting of the town held March 2, 1835 a committee was chosen 
to enquire into the different and best methods of conducting public 
schools, also into the state of our own public schools, and to report what 
improvements, what number and kind of schools are necessary in this 
town to quahfy every scholar who desires an education for the active 
duties of life. The committee reported in print, but the report was not 
recorded, and the paper is lost. As a result of this report, the schools 
were graded, and the Medford School System was established, the feat- 
ures of which were a High School, two Grammar Schools and one or 
more Primary Schools, tributary to these. 

The High School was first established in the easterly end of the school 
house in the rear of the First Parish Meeting House. The grammar 
school occupying the westerly end. In 1844 a new building was erected 
on High Street on the site now occupied by the Manual Training School, 
and both the High and Grammar schools were removed thereto. 

In 1866 the house was remodeled and the entire structure dedicated 
to the use of the high school. The remodeled building answered the 
requirements of the school until 1890 when an addition was made doub- 
ling the capacity of the building. In a few years the enlarged building 
was found to be insufficient for its use, and the new building on Forest 
Street was built in 1896. 



58 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

All of our grammar schools are of recent construction, The Washington 
School House on the corner of Washington and Cross Streets, the Frank- 
lin on Central Avenue, the Lincoln on Harvard Street and the Brooks 
on High Street. 

There are in all eighteen school buildings of every grade in the city. 

PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES. 

As early as 1790 Mr. William Woodbridge opened a boarding and 
day school in the Royall House for boys and girls. He had at one time 
forty-two boys and ninety-six girls. 

Mr. Joseph Wyman of Woburn, vi^ho had taught in the public school 
in Medford, kept a private boarding school for boys and girls. He oc- 
cupied a building that stood on the southerly side of High Street, di- 
rectly on the boundary line between the estate of the late James W. Tufts 
and the Episcopal Church grounds. He opened his school in 1795, and 
kept it until i8oo when he was succeeded by Mrs. Susanna Rowson, who 
leased Mr. Wyman's place and was highly successful as a teacher. In 
1803 she removed her school to Newton, Mass. Mrs. Norton succeeded 
Mrs. Rowson, occupying the same house and kept a school from 1803 
to 1806. At one time she had sixty pupils, some of whom were foreign- 
ers. She like her predecessor, Mrs. Rowson, was highly successful 
as a teacher. 

Dr. Luther Stearns kept a boarding school and taught the classics. 
His first pupils were girls, afterwards boys were admitted to the school- 
The site of his house is now partly within the limits of Emerson Street. 

Dr. John Hosmer opened an academy for boys about 1806, in a house 
which he built on the lot next north of the Universalist Church on Forest 
Street. In 182 1 he was succeeded by Mr. John Angier, who closed his 
school in 1841. 

About 1846 Mr. A. K. Hathaway opened an English and Classical 
Day School on Ashland Street. He afterwards added a boarding de- 
partment. He was a highly successful teacher and had been a teacher 
in the public schools of Medford. He died in i860, and his school was 
closed. 

In 1811 Miss Ann Rose opened a day school for girls in the "Wade 
House" on Brooks Lane, and the next year in connection with Miss 
Hannah Swan, converted it into a boarding school for girls. 

A private school for girls was taught for many years by Miss Elizabeth 
Bradbury in the house at the westerly corner of Walnut and South 
Streets. 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 59 

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

The Medford Public Library had its origin in the Medford Social 
Library, founded in 1825 by a society whose design, as set forth in their 
constitution was to collect books, promotive of piety and good morals 
and to aid in the diffusion of valuable information. 

The shares in the library were placed at one dollar each, and subject 
to an assessment of fifty cents a year. A payment of ten dollars or more 
in one payment entitled a person to life membership, with all the privi- 
leges of membership without assessment. Mr. Turell Tufts in his 
will bequeathed the sum of $500.00 to the town as a perpetual trust, the 
interest of which was secured to this library for the purchase of valuable 
books. 

The establishment of a public library was brought before the town 
at a meeting held March 12, 1855, and a committee was chosen to confer 
with the trustees of the Social Library in regard to making its collection 
of books the basis of a pubhc library. Their final report was submitted 
to the town March 10, 1856. In addition to the rules and regulations 
submitted for the acceptance of the town, they also reported the following 
agreement made with a committee of the trustees of the Social Library: — 
"The undersigned, committee of the trustees of the Medford Social 
Library, having been authorized at an adjournment of the last annual 
meeting of the stockholders of said library, to transfer, in behalf of said 
stockholders, the use of the books in said library, as the foundation of a 
permanent town library, to be supported and managed by the authority 
of the town; and Messrs, William Haskins, Charles Cummings and Judah 
Loring, having been chosen by the town in April last, to act for the town 
in this matter; we agree by this writing in behalf of said stockholders, 
to transfer to them, and through them to the town of Medford, the books, 
shelves,etc.,of said Social Library, and also the annual income from the 
funds of said Library; said income to be applied for the benefit of 
said library; reserving only to the said stockholders the privilege of 
having said books, etc., returned to them in good order (reasonable wear 
excepted) whenever in the judgement of said stockholders the town does 
not provide reasonable care and good management for said books." 

Peter C. Hall, 
Alvah N. Cotton, 

Committee. 



6o TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Medford, Feb. 22, 1856. 

The report of the committee was accepted and its recommendations 
adopted, and an appropriation of one hundred and fifty dollars was 
added to the appropriation of the preceding year. 

Messrs. Charles Cummings, Peter C. Hall and Alvah N. Cotton were 
chosen as Library committee, and they proceeded to purchase books, 
prepare a catalogue, and furnish a room in the second story of the railroad 
station, and the library, with about 1300 volumes was first opened to the 
public July 26, 1856. It was called "The Medford Tufts Library," 
in honor of Turell Tufts, whose bequest of $500.00 has been before 
mentioned. In 1866 the town voted to call it by the name of "The 
Medford Public Library." 

In 1 86 1 the library was removed to Usher's Block, where it remained 
until 1869 when it was removed to the town building. The growing 
importance of the library, with its needs for increased facilities, prompted 
a liberal citizen of the town to address to the Selectmen the following 
communication : — 

" Medford, Jan. 22., 1875. 
To the Selectmen of the town of Medfoi-d, Mass. 

Gentlemen : — 

Feeling a deep interest in the welfare and prosperity of my native 
town, I am induced to make the following communication, with the re- 
quest that it be laid before the town of Medford, at the annual meeting 
to be held in March next. It has been very gratifying to me to notice 
the interest taken by the town in the support and maintenance of a 
Public Library for the use of its Citizens, by the very liberal annual ap- 
propriations for that object, and it has occured to me, that the time is 
not very far distant when a public building especially devoted to this pur- 
pose will be absolutely necessary. With this view of the case, I beg now 
to tender to the inhabitants of Medford in their corporate capacity the 
"Mansion House" of my late honored Father, situated on the northerly 
side of High Street, in the village, to be always retained by them, and 
to be forever devoted exclusively to the purpose of a town library, to- 
gether with so much of the land connected therewith, as is bounded and 
described as follows, viz: ****** And I also 
beg to offer to the town one thousand dollars to be devoted to the purpose 
of providing black-walnut shelves or book-cases, and otherwise furnish- 
ing the building (particularly the lower story) for library purposes. * * 
Very respectfully your most obedient servant, 

Thatcher Magoun . ' ' 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 6 1 

Under^ date of March 5 of the same year, Mr. Magoun made another 
communication to the Selectmen in which he proposed to present through 
them to the town the sum of four thousand dollars in addition to his first 
gift, to be expended, under the direction of the library committee in 
fitting and furnishing the Mansion House for a library building, and in 
the purchase of standard works for the enlargement of the library. 

At a town meeting held the 8th of March, the town unanimously ac- 
cepted, by a rising vote the gifts of Mr. Magoun, upon the conditions 
specified by the donor. The town also appointed a committee to wait 
upon Mr. Magoun and notify him of the action of the town and tender 
him its thanks for his liberality. The committee were further instructed 
to request Mr. Magoun to sit for his portrait, to be painted at the expense 
of the town, by such artist as he should select, that it might, when com- 
pleted, be placed upon the walls of the library building. 

The hbrary was re-opened in its new quarters June 30, 1875. In 
1876 a branch dehvery was established in West Medford, in 1886 at 
Glenwood, and in 1890 at Welhngton. 

In 1890 the hbrary received a donation of Indian Curiosities from 
James G. Swan, Esq., a native of Medford, but then a resident of the 
State of Washington. 

In 1897 a bequest of $500.00 was received under the will of Mrs. 
Adeline A. Munroe. 

In 1897 a stock room with a capacity of about 60,000 volumes was 
built in the rear of the old building and connected therewith. The old 
part of the building was refitted and devoted to a reading and reference 
room, a hbrarian's room, a delivery room and a childrens' room. 

Miss Lucy Osgood, by will, devised to the town of Medford for the 
benefit of the Pubhc Library a wood lot containing forty acres, situated 
in the northeasterly part of the town. 

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. THE FIRST PARISH, 

Johnson in his "Wonder- Working-Providence" says "It is as un- 
natural for a right New-England man to live without an able ministry, 
as for a Smith to work his iron without fire." Acting upon this principle, 
the General Court, at a meeting held Nov. 30, 1630, levied a tax upon 
the towns and plantations of the Colony, for the maintenance of the 
Rev. Mr. Wilson and the Rev. Mr. Phillips. Mr. Wilson was the pastor 
of the church in Boston, and Mr. Phillips, pastor at Watertown. 

These two gentlemen were probably the first preachers who admin- 
istered to the spiritual needs of Mr. Cradock's servants. From the time 



62 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

of Messrs, Wilson and Phillips to the year 1690 the inhabitants of Mead- 
ford, being small in numbers and unable to support a minister, were 
obliged to attend church in the neighboring towns. 

In 1690 the town made provisions for preaching, by hiring a room and 
engaging students from Harvard College to supply the pulpit. 

In 1692 the town engaged the Rev. John Hancock as their preacher, 
and voted "that he shall be boarded at Mr, John Bradshaw's for the 
year ensuing, if he shall continue his ministry so long among us." Mr, 
Hancock was grandfather of John Hancock of Revolutionary fame, and 
was afterwards minister at Lexington, for fifty-four years. His ministry 
ceased in Nov,, 1693, and the town voted to apply to Harvard College 
for a preacher for the winter. Among others who supplied the pulpit 
at that time was Mr, Benjamin Colman, afterwards minister of the 
Brattle Street Church in Boston. 

On March 5, 1694 it was voted by the town that the former subscrip- 
tion (fifteen shiUings per sabbath) for the support of a minister should 
be continued, and that the board of the minister should be five shillings 
per week. 

In 1698 Mr, Benjamin Woodbridge was engaged for six months as a 
candidate on probation, and on March 28th of that year the town voted 
"that Mr, Woodbridge when legally settled amongst us in the work of 
the ministry, shall have forty pounds in money, fifteen cords of wood, 
and strangers' money for annuity," 

Mr, Woodbridge was never settled as the minister of Medford, The 
relations between him and the people of Medford were most unhappy, 
and several suits of law were required to settle their differences. He 
continued in Medford until his death in 17 10. 

Mr, John Tufts succeeded Mr, Woodbridge and supplied for six 
months, Medford up to this time had not settled a minister, and being 
desirous of so doing, voted in May, 1712 to invite Mr, Aaron Porter to 
become their pastor. The invitation was accepted and he was ordained 
February 11,1713. He served until his death in 1 7 2 2 and was succeeded 
by the Rev. Ebenezer Turell, who was ordained Nov 25, 1724. Mr, 
Turell labored acceptably until 1774 when his failing health induced 
the church and town to invite Mr, David Osgood to settle as associate 
pastor with him. Mr. Osgood accepted the invitation and was ordained 
September 14, 1774. Mr. Turell died December 5, 1778. Mr. Osgood 
preached forty-eight years and died December 12, 1822, As a preacher 
he was very distinguished, and his fame was not confined to the town 
of Medford, During his ministry the majority of his people had em- 




TUFTS HOUSE BUILT ABOUT 1709 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 63" 

braced Unitarian views; and at his death the town and church concurred 
in extending an invitation to the Rev. Andrew Bigelow to become their 
pastor. The invitation was accepted and he was installed July 9, 1823. 
Very soon after Mr. Bigelow was installed those members of the church, 
who retained the Calvinistic tenets, asked for and obtained dismission 
and organized a new society. Those remaining were incorporated as 
the "First Parish of Medford,' ' March 31, 1824. Mr. Bigelow resigned 
in 1826 and was succeeded by Rev.'s Caleb Stetson, John Pierpoint, 
Theodore Tebbetts, Edward C. Towne and Henry C. DeLong, the 
present pastor. 

During the pastorate of Mr. Stetson, April 2, 1839, the parish voted 
to take down the old meeting house and build a new one on the same 
location. This was done and the new building was dedicated December 
4, 1839. This building was destroyed by fire January 15, 1893, and the 
present church building erected on the same site, and was dedicated 
June I, 1894. 

PLACES OF EARLY PUBLIC WORSHIP OCCUPIED BY THE FIRST PARISH. 

In 1690 the town voted "to pay Thomas Willis thirty shilHngs for the 
use of his rooms for one year." 

January 17, 1693. "At a general town-meeting of the inhabitants 
of Medford, being fifteen days warned, voted that there shall be a meet- 
ing-house erected, to be finished the first of October following, on the 
land of Mr. Thomas Willis, near the gate by Marble brook, on a rock 
on the north side of Woburn Road, it shall be seven and twenty feet long, 
four and twenty feet wide, and fifteen feet between joints." Owing to 
delays the building was not finished until May, 1696, and when con- 
structed it was thirty feet long, twenty-seven feet wide and sixteen feet 
posts. This house stood on the corner of High Street and High Street 
Court, and the gate by Marble Brook was the one that Major Jonathan 
Wade had permission from the Country Court to hang across the high- 
way on the westerly boundary of his farm. A deed of this land was 
given to the town by Mr. Willis, March 6, 1699. This house accommo- 
dated the people for about twenty years, when the town appointed a 
committee to ascertain "whether it was best to build a new meeting- 
house or to enlarge the old.' ' On July 19, 1716, the committee reported 
in favor of a new meeting-house. 

The difi'erent interests of the east and west portions of the town de- 
layed action until January 10, 1726, when the town voted "to give Mr. 
John Albree fifty-five pounds for one acre of land on the south side of 



64 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

the Country road (High Street) near Marble brook, * * * * 
and to appropriate 360 pounds for building the house," and a commit- 
tee was chosen to determine the size and shape of the house. 

This committee reported that "it would be proper for the town to 
build a meeting-house fifty-two feet large, thirty-eight feet wide and 
thirty-three posts." The recommendations of the committee were 
adopted, and it was empowered to build the house, and in March fol- 
lowing it was "voted to have a steeple." The first sermon was preached 
in the new meeting house by Rev. Mr. Turell, September 3, 1727. 

The third meeting house stood upon the site now occupied by the 
First Parish Church building. At a town meeting held August 22, 1768, 
it was voted to build a meeting house on land bought of Mr. John Bishop, 
the house to be of the following dimensions; sixty-six feet long, forty-six 
feet wide, with forty-eight pews on the floor, and eight in the gallery, 
with a tower from the ground without a spire, and two porches. A 
spire was afterwards added. The building was completed and services 
were first held therein March 11, 1770. 

In 1824 the society holding meetings in this meeting house was in- 
corporated as the "First Parish of Medford." 

These three meeting houses having been built and maintained by the 
town were used by it for the holding of town meetings, and the third 
meeting house was so used until 1826, when the question arose between 
the town and the Parish as to the right of the town to use the meeting 
house for these purposes. The question was settled by an opinion of 
the Supreme Court, who decided that upon the formation of the Second 
Parish, all rights of the town in property that had been held for paro- 
chial purposes, vested in the First Parish alone. 

THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL (TRINITARIAN) SOCIETY. 

Reference has been made to those members of the First Parish who 
were released from the bond of church-fellowship and organized a new 
society. This society was organized June 22, 1823, and was incorpo- 
rated February 21, 1824, under the name of the "Second Congregational 
Society of Medford." Its first pastor being Rev. Aaron Warner, who 
was installed September, i, 1824. Immediately after the society was 
incorporated measures were taken to erect a church edifice. A lot of 
land was secured on High Street, and the building was completed and 
dedicated the same day Mr. Warner was installed. Mr. Warner was 
dismissed October 2, 1832 and was succeeded by Rev. 's Gordon Winslow, 
Levi Pratt, Abijah R. Baker, Elihu P. Marvin, and James T. McCollum. 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 65 

Mr. McCollum died November 25, 1874, and was the last pastor of the 
Second Church. 

In 1874 this society united with the Third Congregational Society. 

On September 9, i860 the church building was burnt to the ground. 
A new house was built, and dedicated June 12, 1861. 

In 1857 the name of the church was changed from the Second Con- 
gregational to the First Trinitarian Congregational Church of Medford. 
The society retained its original name. 

THE THIRD CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY. 

This society commonly called the " Mystic Society" was an out- 
growth of the Second Parish and was legally organized August 13, 1847. 

Separate worship was begun in the town hall on Sunday, May 9, 1847. 
The organization was effected July 6, 1847. 

The first pastor was Rev. Abner B. Warner, and was installed October 
27, 1847. -^ ^6w church edifice was built on Salem Street and dedicated 
February 14, 1849. ^^- Warner died May 26, 1853 and was succeeded 
by Rev.'s Jacob M. Manning, Elias Nason, Edward P. Hooker and Solon 
Cobb. Mr. Cobb was dismissed March 12, 1874, and was the last 
pastor of the Mystic Church before uniting with the First Trinitarian 
Church. 

For several years the subject of uniting the Mystic and the First Trini- 
tarian Congregational Churches had been agitated, and the union was 
formally consummated December 31, 1874. The Mystic Church was 
enlarged and re-dedicated January 12, 1876, and the old church building 
on High Street sold to the Catholic Society. The death of Mr. McCol- 
lum of the first church disappointed the wishes of the united church 
that he should be its first pastor, and a call was extended to the Rev. 
Charles H. Baldwin to settle over the newly constituted church. The 
call was accepted, and he was installed June 30, 1875. Mr. Baldwin 
resigned February i, 1881, and was succeeded by Rev.'s Theophilus P. 
Sawin, James L. Hill, John Brastow, Elijah Horr and George W. Butler, 
the present pastor. 

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF MEDFORD. 

In 1818 a few Baptists met in a private house, just west of the center 
grammer school on High Street. They held weekly meetings and or- 
ganized a Foreign Missionary Society. May 3, 1820 Miss Sally Blanch- 
ard was baptized in the Mystic River. Feeling the need of more com- 
modious quarters for their meetings, the Town Hall was secured and 



66 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

the services of the Rev. Lucius M. BoUes were engaged. He preached 
his first sermon August i6, 1840. Following Mr. Bolles, students from 
the Baptist Theological Institution at Newton supplied the pulpit. 

July 7, 1 84 1, twelve persons formed themselves into a church, taking 
the name of the "First Baptist Church of Medford." 

August I, 1 84 1, Rev. George W. Bosworth commenced his work as 
pastor and meetings were continued in the Town Hall until the comple- 
tion of the new church building on Salem Street, which was dedicated 
September 17, 1842. Mr. Bosworth was connected with the church for 
five years. He was succeeded by Rev.'s B. C. Grafton, G. C. Danforth, 
Edward K. Fuller and Thomas E. Keely. 

In 1856 some of the members of the church having taken letters of 
dismissal to other Baptist churches, those that remained assumed the 
name of the Central Baptist Church of Medford. 

Rev. Mr. Keely was installed September 9, 1856. He resigned July 3, 
1857, and succeeded by Rev. George M. Preston. During his pastorate 
the church resumed its original name. Mr. Preston was succeeded by 
Rev.'s J. C. Hurd and J. G. Richardson. On June 29, 1873, during 
Mr. Richardson's pastorate, the new church on Oakland Street was so 
far completed as to allow of services being held therein. 

Mr. Richardson resigned in May, 1877 and was succeeded by Rev.'s 
James P. Abbott, M. F. Johnson, Henry C. Graves and Maurice A. 
Levy, the present pastor. 

In 1893 the church became incorporated under the laws of the Com- 
monwealth. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The first Methodist sermon preached in Medford was by Rev. Josiah 
Brackett, in July, 1822, in the old "College" on Ship Street, (Riverside 
Avenue.) 

In 1823 the church and Sunday school was organized and held in 
Mead's Hall, Main Street. 

In 1828 the society was incorporated as the "First Methodist Episco- 
pal Church of Medford,' ' and a chapel built on Cross Street. 

From 1828 to 1832 the pulpit was supplied by local preachers, among 
whom were Rev. C. K. True, Dr. Samuel Coggeshall, Rev. Stephen 
Smith, and Rev. Mr. Vanscawer. 

In 1833 Rev. Apollos Hale was appointed by the Bishop. In 1834 
Rev. Elbridge G. Drake supplied the pulpit and 1835 ^^v. Mr. Nichols. 
For several years the pulpit was supplied by local preachers until regular 
services were discontinued about 1836. 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 67 

In 1842 preaching was resumed and continued by Rev. Moses L. Scud- 
der and others; first in the private house of Mr. Ira T. Barker, then in 
the old brick schoolhouse on Cross Street, and then in the Town Hall. 
In 1844 Rev. George Pickering was sent by the Conference to the society 
and a lot of land on the corner of Salem and Oakland Streets was pur- 
chased as a location for a church building. The building was completed 
and dedicated December 19, 1845. 

The following named pastors have been in charge from 1845 to the 
present time: Rev.'s J. A. Adams, James Shepherd, Thomas Tucker, 
WiUiam Smith, A. D. Merrill, J. A. Perkins, Charles Noble, E. S. Best, 
WilHam A. Braman, A. F. Herrick, J. A. Ames, H. N. Loud, David 
Sherman, Daniel Wait, N. T. Whitaker, Frank J. Wagner, T. B. Smith, 
Thomas C. Watkins, Gilbert C. Osgood, James W. Fenno, Lyman D. 
Bragg, Edward F. Curnick, Fayette Nichols, Oliver W. Hutchinson, 
Alexander Dight, George S. Chadbourne, Frank T. Pomeroy and Edgar 
C. Bridgham, the present pastor. 

In 1872 the corner stone of the present church building was laid. It 
was completed the following year and dedicated April 30, 1873. 

THE FIRST UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY. 

This society was formed March 22, 183 1, and in April of that year 
installed Rev. Winslow W. Wright as its first pastor. Mr. Wright re- 
signed in April, 1835 and was succeeded by Rev.'s Joseph Banfield,Hosea 
Ballou; afterwards President of Tufts College; G. W. Maxham, C. B. 
Lombard, Benjamin H. Davis, T. J. Greenwood, Eben Francis, R. P. 
Ambler, J. T. Farnsworth, W. G. Haskell, Richard Eddy, Daniel L. R. 
Libby, R. P. Ambler, (second pastorate), J. B. Reardon, Charles H. 
Leonard, Warren S. Woodbridge, William H. Dearborn and Clarence 
L. Eaton, the present pastor. 

The church edifice was erected in 1832, remodelled and enlarged in 
1850 and again in 1886. 

GRACE CHURCH. (EPISCOPAL.) 

In November, 1847, the project of establishing an Episcopal Church 
in Medford was first agitated, and Christmas eve of that year was se- 
lected as the time of the first service. After that time and until the con- 
secration of their new building, services were held in Odd Fellows' Hall 
in the upper part of the]Boston and Maine Railroad Station. 

On February 15, 1846 the parish was organized under the name of 
Grace Church, and May 7, Rev. David G. Haskins was chosen rector. 



68 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

September 5, 1849 a committee, previously appointed to consider the 
best site for a church edifice, recommended the purchase of a lot of land 
on High Street, opposite the old high school building. The land was 
secured and the completed building consecrated May 11, 1850. Mr. 
Haskins resigned February 18, 1852 and was succeeded by Rev.'s Justin 
Field, George A. Strong, Charles H. Learoyd. 

During the rectorship of Mr. Learoyd the present stone church edifice 
was erected, but was not consecrated until May 6, 1873. 

Mr. Learoyd resigned at Easter, 1872, and was succeeded by Rev. 
Charles L. Hutchins. During Mr. Hutchins' rectorship (1883) Rev. 
John B. Richmond became assistant rector, which position he held for 
seven years. Mr. Hutchins resigned April 15, 1890, and was succeeded 
by Rev.'s Arthur B. Moorehouse and Frank I. Paradise, the present 
rector. 

SOUTH MEDFORD BAPTIST CHURCH. 

This society was formed in September, 1894 by Rev. George F. Sibley. 
Services were held in private houses. 

Mr. William Smith gave a lot of land on Dexter Street, upon the con- 
dition that a building should be erected on the same within one year. 
This condition was accepted and the corner stone of the new building 
laid December 15, 1896. The church was formally organized July 9, 
1897, and September 16, 1897 the new building was dedicated. 

Mr. Sibley resigned in April, 1897 and was succeeded by Rev.'s W. 
W. Wakeman and W. W. Hackett, the present pastor. 

UNION CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

This church was organized October 29, 1887 and held its first services 
in a chapel on Broadway, Somerville. In the spring of 1888 a lot of 
land was purchased on Marion Street and a church building was erected. 

Rev. F. J. Kelly was the first pastor and he was succeeded by Rev.'s 
C. C. Bruce, Benjamin A. Dean, Isaac Pierson and John Wild, the 
present pastor. 

ST. JOSEPH ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

The first Catholic service in Medford was held in the Town Hall and 
Rev, Manasseh P. Doherty of Cambridge took charge of the society. 
Father Doherty was succeeded in 1855 by Rev. John Ryan, under 
whose directions a church edifice was built on Salem Street near the then 
boundary line between Medford and Maiden. This church supplied 
the needs of the Catholics of Medford, Maiden and other towns. 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD, 69 

The first service was held in the new church in 1855. Father Ryan 
was succeeded by Rev. Thomas Scully, Fathers McShane and Carroll. 
Rev. Thomas Gleason was placed in charge of the parish in 1868. 

In 1877 that part of Medford in which the building was located was 
set ofif from Medford and annexed to Maiden. The Catholics of Med- 
ford desiring a church of their own, purchased the building belonging 
to the Second Congregational Society on High Street, and on Easter, 
1878 it was dedicated to the service of the Roman Catholic religion. 

In 1883 the society became a separate parish under the charge of Rev. 
Richard Donnelly. Father Donnelly died after two years' service and 
was succeeded by Rev. Michael Gilligan. During Father Gilligan's 
pastorate the new church edifice on High Street was built. Father 
Gilligan died in 1900 and was succeeded by Rev. Thomas L. Flannagan, 
the present pastor. Rev. 's Patrick T. Higgins and John Harrington are 
assistant pastors. 

WEST MEDFORD CHRISTIAN UNION. 

This society was formed in 1867 by members of dififerent religious de- 
nominations resident in West Medford. Services were held in Mystic 
Hall and the pulpit was first supplied by Rev. M. B. Chapman. He 
was succeeded by Rev.'s Louis E. Charpoit, W. E. Huntington and 
Charles Lord. This society retained its organization until 1872, when 
its leading members took measures to form themselves into separate 
organizations. 

WEST MEDFORD CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

This church was formally organized June 12, 1872 and measures 
were taken to erect a church edifice. A lot of land was secured on the 
corner of Har\'ard Avenue and Bowers Street. The building was dedi- 
cated October 14, 1874, and the pastor elect, Rev. Marshall M. Cutter, 
w^as installed that day. Mr. Cutter resigned in 1882, and was suceeded 
by Rev.'s Edward C. Hood, Herbert W. Stebbins, Judson Van Clancy. 
During Mr. Clancy's pastorate the church edifice was destroyed by fire, 
March 4, 1903. Steps were at once taken to erect a new church edifice 
upon a lot of land on the corner of High and Allston Streets. This land 
was the gift of Deacon Henry L. Barnes. 

While the new building was in course of construction, services were 
held in Holton Hall. The new building was dedicated January 8, 1905. 

Mr. Clancy resigned October 18, 1903 and was succeeded by Rev. 
Burt L. Yorke, the present pastor. 



70 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

TRINITY METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

This society was organized April i, 1872 and was an outgrowth of the 
West Medford Christian Union. The chapel, on the corner of Bowers 
and Holton Streets, was dedicated Nov. 5, 1873. 

Rev. Francis J. Wagner was the j6rst pastor. His services terminated 
in January, 1874 and he was succeeded by Rev.'s S. S. Curry, L. L. H. 
Hamilton, Ernest C. Herdman, John F. Brant, William Full, Jarvis 
A. Ames, George M. Smiley, Charles W. Wilder, Frederick N. Upham, 
William J. Hambleton, William G. Pomfret, WilHam M. Cassidy. 
During Mr. Cassidy's pastorate the church building was sold and moved 
away, and a new building erected on the same site. The dedication of 
the new church took place March 11, 1897. 

Following Mr. Cassidy were Rev.'s Arthur W. L. Nelson, Arthur Bon- 
ner, George A. Cooke and Sylvester S. Klyne, the present pastor. 

WEST MEDFORD BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The Baptists of West Medford met in Mystic Hall, October 20, 1895, 
for regular services, Rev. James P. Abbott, pastor of the First Church, 
officiating. The meetings were held until January i, 1896 under Mr. 
Abbott's charge, when he resigned and was succeeded by Rev. A. A 
Cambridge. A lot of land on the corner of Boston and Harvard Avenues 
was purchased and a church edifice erected. The building was dedi- 
cated April 21, 1897. Mr. Cambridge resigned March 5, 1899 and was 
succeeded by Rev.'s T. O. Harlow and Nathan R. Wood, the present 
pastor. 

SHILOH BAPTIST CHURCH. 

On May 4, 1898, the colored Baptists of West Medford formed them- 
selves into a religious society and held their first services in a private 
house on Lincoln Street. Rev. Wilson Fitchett was the first pastor, and 
he commenced his services March 6, 1899. 

A lot of land on the corner of Lincoln Street and Fairfield Avenue was 
secured and a church building erected, which was dedicated December 
16, 1899. Mr. Fitchett was succeeded by Rev. E. S. Hatton, D. D., the 
present pastor. 

ST. RAPHAEL PARISH. 

The Roman Catholics of West Medford have formed a separate 
parish and are about to erect a new church edifice on High Street nearly 
opposite the railroad station. 

The Rev. Nathaniel J. Merritt is at present in charge of this parish. 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 7 1 

BETHANY METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The chapel of this society stands on Fourth Street and was dedicated 
in 1888. The first pastor was Rev. J. W. Wood and after a short pastor- 
ate he was succeeded by Rev. Charles W. Brackett. Mr. Brackett was 
succeeded by Frank J. Wheat, A. E. Winter, Benjamin P. White, 
Joseph E. Waterhouse, Charles S. Nutter, C. A. Bowen, Francis L. 
Strickland, Willard J. Shattuck, Thomas J. Elliot, Oscar Ford, Donald 
H. Gerrish and T. R. Stinson, all student pastors. Rev. C. Frederick 
Anderson is the present pastor. 

HILLSIDE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH. 

The Universalists of the Hillside District inaugurated weekly Sabbath 
services January 26, 1896, and April 28, 1896 they organized as the Hill- 
side Universalist Parish of Medford. A lot of land was purchased on 
Boston Avenue and measures were taken to erect a church edifice. The 
building was completed and dedicated November 14, 1897. 

On April 9, 1897 Rev. B. F. Eaton commenced his service as pastor 
and was succeeded June 19, 1899 by Rev. Theodore A. Fischer, the 
present pastor. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT HILLSIDE. 

This church was organized August 17, 1896, and the Rev. L. W. Wood 
was installed as the first pastor. Meetings were held in private houses 
until the dedication of their church edifice, May 13, 1900. The building 
stands on Winthrop Street, corner of Dearborn Street. Mr. Wood re- 
signed, June, 1897 and was succeeded by Rev.'s F. L. Bussell, Edward 
W. Strecker, E. O. Grimes, A. L. W. Nelson, Arthur Bonner, George 
A. Cooke, Willard I. Kern and Homer B. Potter, the present pastor. 

MEDFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT. 

At a town meeting, held May 12, 1760, the first action of the town 
concerning a fire department was taken, by providing that two fire hooks 
be purchased for the use of the town, and on the nth of March, 1765, 
nine fire-ward and twelve engine men were appointed, the town having 
previously procured a fire engine. In 1785 a volunteer fire society was 
formed called the "Medford Amicable Fire Society," having for its 
motto. " Amicis nohisqiie." A constitution and by-laws were adopted 
wherein the members bound themselves to assist each other in extinguish- 
ing fires that threatened the destruction of their property. It was also 
agreed that "each member shall keep constantly in good order, hanging 



72 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, 

up in some convenient place in his dwelling house two leather buckets 
of convenient size in which shall be two bags and one screw-key, each 
bag measuring one yard and three-quarters in length, and three-quarters 
of a yard in breadth." If the buckets, bags or key of any member were 
out of place at any quarterly inspection he was fined twenty-five cents 
for each article so out of place. The buckets were inscribed with the 
owner's name and the year that he became a member. These buckets 
Avere usually hung in the front entry of the house. The bags were used to 
convey small articles to a place of safety, and the screw-key for the taking 
apart of bedsteads, so as to permit of their being removed from the burn- 
ing house. On an alarm of fire being given the members were to answer 
the call and render all the assistance in their power. A line was formed 
from the fire to the nearest water and the buckets were filled and passed 
along the line from hand to hand, and the water thrown upon the fire. 
Sometimes the same method was used to supply those engines that were 
not provided with suction hose, as was the case with some of the earlier 
"tubs." The membership of the society was limited to twenty-four, 
and fines were imposed for absence from meetings. This society was 
dissolved in 1849. Twenty-two of the buckets belonging to different 
members are now hanging in the Hook and Ladder room at the Central 
Fire Station. The Washington Hook and Ladder Company, No. i, was 
organized under an Act of the General Court passed June 11, 1829. 
This company has had a continuous existence since its first organiza- 
tion, and claims to be the oldest active company in the United States. 
In the year 1839 the town petitioned the General Court for authority 
to establish a Fire Department in the town. An Act was passed and 
accepted by the town, and March 23, 1840 the selectmen appointed the 
first Board of Engineers of the Fire Department. 

ENGINE NO. I. 

The first fire engine owned by the town was purchased under a vote 
passed March 7, 1763, "to raise £26, 13s, 4d to procure a fire engine, 
provided the balance can be procured by subscription." Hon. Isaac 
Royall, Stephen Hall, Esq., and Captain Seth Blodgett were chosen a 
committee to receive the subscriptions and procure the engine. The 
committee secured the necessary amount and an engine was purchased 
and located near the market place. In 1796 a new engine was bought 
and the old one transferred to the westerly part of the town. The new 
engine was called the East engine, a name it continued to bear until about 
1813, when it was numbered one. In 1835 it received the name of Gov- 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 73 

emor Brooks, No. i. This engine was in commission until 1839, when 
the town voted to buy a new engine and sell the old Governor Brooks. 
Up to this date engine No. i had been kept on the north side of the river. 
In 1840 we find the new No. i located in the Chaise House connected 
with the Medford House. It was soon transferred to a building that 
stood on what is now the public pound lot on Union Street. It shared 
this house with the South Alphabet School. In 1858 the company then 
in charge of No. i was disbanded and the engine was soon after sold. 
Governor Brooks, No. i, the last of her name, when in her prime was one 
of the smartest fire engines in the vicinity of Boston, and few were the 
"tubs" that could either "wash" or "suck" her. 

ENGINE NO. 2. 

The old fire engine bought in 1763 was transferred from the market 
place to the west part of the town and located in a building belonging to 
Jeduthan Richardson on the corner of High Street and Hastings Lane. 
It was called the West engine until about 1813, when it was numbered 2. 
In 1829 the town voted to purchase a new engine for the west part of the 
town, and one was procured and called Extinguisher No. 2., a name it 
retained until 1837, when it received the name of General Jackson, No. 2. 
This engine was sold in 1849 ^^'^ ^ ^^"^ General Jackson took its place. 
This last engine was sold in 1861. The second No. 2 was located in the 
rear of the first Parish Meeting House. The last No. 2 on High Street, 
opposite the Manual Training School Building. 

ENGINE NO. 3. 

This engine was purchased in 1823 and at first was called by its num- 
ber. It was located in a house in Magoun's shipyard on Ship Street. 
In 1835 it was named J. Q. Adams No. 3. This engine was displaced 
by Washington, No. 4, and was afterwards used for watering ships, the 
town having voted in 1835 to allow the use of fire engines for that pur- 
pose. No. 3 was sold in 1865. 

WASHINGTON ENGINE NO. 4. 

Engine No. 4 was purchased in 1836 "to take the place of the J. Q. 
Adams." It was at first located in the house formerly occupied by the 
J. Q. Adams. Old No. 4 was sold in 1850 and replaced by a new engine 
that took the name of Washington, No. 3. New quarters were provided 
for the new engine on Park Street. This engine was one of, if not the 
best engine owned by the town, it being at the time of its purchase of the 



74 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

latest construction with all up to date improvements. The company 
attached to it was disbanded in 187 1 and the engine sold. 

THE OLD GRASSHOPPER, 

This was the engine bought in 1763 and transferred from the market 
place to the west part of the town. In 1830 after a new engine was 
bought for that part of the town, it was voted in town meeting" that Capt. 
LeBosquet and others in his neighborhood (Symmes' Corner now Win- 
chester) have permission to take the old engine to their part of the town, 
at their own expense." The latter days of the old "tub" were spent in 
the old Hearse and Hook and Ladder House that stood on a part of the 
burying ground on River Street. The Grasshopper was sold in 1848 
for the sum of twenty dollars. 

The fire apparatus in present use consists of one steam fire engine, 
three combination hose and chemical wagons and two hose wagons. 
The fire stations are located as follows : — Central Engine House, corner 
of Main and South Streets, which also contains the steam fire engine, 
Hook and Ladder Truck and Hose i ; Combination A, house on Canal 
Street; Combination B, house comer of Medford and Albion Streets; 
Combination C house on Salem Street near Park and Hose 4 house on 
Spring Street. The officers of the department are: — Charles E. Bacon, 
Chief Engineer and Superintendent of Fire Alarm ; Jude C. Clark, First 
Assistant Engineer and Clerk; Frank O. Waterman, Second Assistant 
Engineer. The city employs in this department fifty-seven men, and 
has in use seventeen horses. 

MEDFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT. 

The headquarters of the Medford police is the brick building at the 
corner of Main and Swan Streets erected in 1895. The department was 
re-organized in 1874 with George W. W. Saville as chief. His successors 
in office were Jophanus H. Whitney and Emery D. Holmes, the present 
chief. The force consists of a chief, one sergeant, nineteen patrolmen 
and four reserve patrolmen. The department is provided with a patrol 
wagon and the Gamewell PoUce Signal System. 

STREET LIGHTS. 

Medford streets are lighted with electricity. Number of lights Jan. a, 
1905:— 

Arc 124^ 

Incandescent 568 



Making a total of . . . . 692J 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. yc 

ALMSHOUSES. 

In 1737 the town of Medford chose a committee to confer with the 
neighboring towns to induce them to join in building a house for employ- 
ing poor, indigent and slothful persons. This movement was not suc- 
cessful and the town continued to board out their poor in private families. 
March 3, 1788 the town voted to purchase a house and three and one- 
half acres of land belonging to the heirs of the late Francis Whitmore for 
a poorhouse. This lot of land was situated on the way now known as 
Canal Street. This house answered the purposes of the town until 18 1 1 ; 
although during a portion of the time the town rented the poorfarm and 
boarded out their poor. On the fourth day of March of that year, the 
town appointed a committee of five to investigate and report upon the 
expediency of providing better accommodations for the town's poor. 
This committee reported in favor of building a house of brick on the 
site of the old house and of sufficient size to supply the present and future 
wants of the town. The report was adopted, and the same persons ap- 
pointed a building committee. In 1827 the town purchased eight acres 
of land adjoining the poorhouse for a poorfarm. In 1849 the town pur- 
chased a lot of land on Purchase Street containing ten and one-half acres 
for a cemetery. Upon further consideration it was concluded that the 
lot was better suited for a poor farm, and on the eighth of April, 1852, 
the town appointed a committee to seU the old house and prepare plans 
for a new one on the Purchase Street lot. The plans of the committee 
were adopted and the same persons authorized to proceed with the con- 
struction of the building. This house which was of brick was partially 
destroyed by fire in August, 1883. It was rebuilt on the same plan and 
served the needs of the town until 1895, when it became necessary to 
enlarge by the addition of a wing that more than doubled the capacitv 
of the house. 

TRUST FUNDS. 

The Secomb Fund. The nucleus of the trust fund of the citv was a 
donation "left by the late Mr. Thomas Secomb, deceased, and of his 
widow Miss Rebecca Secomb now living," to the selectmen and over- 
seers of the poor of the town of Medford and their successors as such, 
m trust, for the benefit of the poor of Medford; the interest or income 
only to be used for the purpose. This amounted to One hundred and 
thirty-three pounds, six shilHngs and eight-pence lawful money or One 
hundred pounds sterling money of Great Britain. 

In 1865 Dr. Daniel Swan bequeathed to the town the sum of five hun- 
dred dollars. In 1867 Mr. Timothy Cotting donated the sum of one 



76 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVP:NTy-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

thousand dollars. Both of said sums were to be added to the Secomb 
Fund. In 1868 the fund was still further increased by a bequest of three 
thousand three hundred dollars made to the town under the will of Mr. 
Dudley Hall. 

The Hall Fund. Mr. Dudley Hall bequeathed to the inhabitants of 
Medford the sum of five thousand dollars, "to hold the same in trust 
and to divide and pay the annual income or interest thereof to the de- 
serving poor and needy church members of the several Protestant re- 
ligious societies now existing and organized in said Medford, the said 
annual income or interest to be divided among the said societies in pro- 
portion to the number of church members belonging to the said respect- 
ive societies, some time during and in the month of November in each 
year, the number of said church members to be certified to the town 
treasurer, by the minister and deacons, or parish or other standing com- 
mittees of said societies, on or before the first day of November in each 
year, and to be by them divided and distributed at their discretion among 
the poor and needy church members in and belonging to their respective 
societies." 

Pamelia Simonds Fund. Miss Pamelia Simonds provided in her will 
as follows: — "All the rest of my property, real, personal and mixed, 
which may remain unappropriated at the time of my death, I hereby 
give and bequeath to the overseers of the poor and their successors in 
office, who shall have been chosen in Medford and who ex officio shall 
hold my said property above mentioned in trust, distributing annually 
among the indigent women of the town the interest only of said property. 
I strictly confine this gift to females born in Medford." This fund 
amounts to one thousand three hundred dollars. 

Charlotte Bradbury Fund. The following extract from the will of 
Miss Charlotte Bradbury explains her bequest to the town : " * * * 
and should there be an excess of personal property after paying said 
legacies, then I desire such surplus to be added to the proceeds of my 
real estate and disposed of therewith." 

"Fourth, after the death of my sister, and the payment of the legacies 
aforesaid, I direct my Executor to sell my real estate, * * * * 
and to add to these proceeds any surplus of my personal property as 
aforesaid, and then to pay the whole over to the town of Medford as a 
Charitable Trust or for the following charitable uses, that the income 
of the fund shall be appropriated for all time, for the help or relief of 
indigent American females, old or young, that shall be residents of the 
town of Medford, said appropriation or distribution of income to be 




DANIEL W. LAWRENCE 
JUDGE HARLOW 



ELEAZER BOYNTON 



BENJAMIN C. LEONARD 
DANIEL A. GLEASON 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 77 

made by the Selectmen for the time being, and such distribution shall 
be made annually as the income accrues and in accordance with the best 
judgment and discretion of said Selectmen." At a meeting of the 
town, held July 2, 1887, the bequest was accepted. The fund amounts 
to $11,252. 

BURYING PLACES. 

Major Jonathan Wade died in 1689, and in the division of his estate, 
there was set off to his son Dudley Wade, "that little pasture called the 
burying place, allowing only one-quarter of an acre of the said burying 
place, with a gangway to it, to be the burying place for the whole family.' ' 
At a town meeting held March 20, 1705, certain proposals were made 
to the town, the nature of which can be judged of by the following vote 
passed that day. "Put to vote, whether the town shall discourse Mr. 
Dudley Wade, referring to the proposals made this meeting by Stephen 
Willis, Jun., in said Wade's behalf, respecting the burying place in Med- 
ford, and make return to the town, at the next town's meeting. " Voted 
in the affirmative. Evidently nothing was done at this time that resulted 
in bringing the burying place into possession of the town, for, on the 
twelfth day of August, 1709, Dudley Wade sold to Stephen Willis "Up- 
land and Marsh, with part of a barn standing on the same, * * * 
v/ith the liberty of a passageway for a Cart at all times through the bury- 
ing place of said Wade, and liberty of spreading hay on the same." 

Some time prior to May 15, 1717, the burying place came into posses- 
sion of the town, as will be seen by a vote passed upon that date. "Put 
to vote, whether the town will choose a Committee to Join with the Se- 
lectmen to view some land offered by Mr. Aaron Cleaveland and John 
Willis, for the enlargement of the burying place near Mistick Bridge, and 
to bring in a report to the town of same at the next town meeting, both 
of the price of said land and the convenience of the same for the use 
aforesaid." Voted in the affirmative. 

On the loth of June following, the committee reported and the town 
voted to give Mr. Aaron Cleaveland and John Willis, for a small piece 
of land, for an addition to the burying place, after the rate of thirty-two 
pounds per acre. 

From the above it appears that the one-fourth of an acre of land, com- 
prising the old Wade burying place, was situated back from Salem Street, 
and the gangway leading thereto was in close proximity to the land on 
which the livery stable now stands. The first described lot was situated 
between the old grounds and Salem Street, and the second lot was situ- 



78 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, 

ated between the old grounds and land now belonging to the Boston and 
Maine Railroad Company. 

In 1773 the town purchased of Christopher Page a strip of land on 
the northwest side of the burying place; sixteen feet in width, and extend- 
ing from Salem Street to land of the Boston and Maine Raikoad Com- 
pany. That same year the town sold twelve square feet of land adjoin- 
ing the burying place to Mr. Hezekiah Blanchard, who at that time 
owned and operated the distill house, now the Boston and Maine engine 
house. 

In 1776, Mr. Samuel Teel sold the town a parcel of land, bounded, 
north on the Country Road, (Salem Street) east on the burying place; 
south on Captain Isaac Hall's land; (formerly Blanchard's) and westerly 
on a way to the wharves (River Street). 

When the Medford Branch Railroad was surveyed, the location cov- 
ered a portion of the Cross Street burying ground, and also land used by 
the town as a pound. There was strong opposition to allowing this en- 
croachment upon the burial place, but at a town meeting held March 9, 
1846, the town gave its consent, to the taking of the land and accepted 
the proposal of Mr. Daniel Lawrence, the agent of the company, that 
he give a tract of land on the east side of the old burying ground for an 
addition thereto. The amount of land to be given to equal the amount 
taken from the Cross Street grounds. Mr. Lawrence proposed to give 
an additional four hundred square feet of land, reserving to himself one 
lot for a burial place, he giving fifty dollars for the choice of said lot, after 
the Honorable Peter C. Brooks should have made his choice. Mr. 
Brooks offered the sum of five hundred dollars towards defraying the 
cost of enclosing the new part of the grounds with a suitable enclosure, 
asking only in return, a small lot less than twenty feet square for his own 
use. These several proposals were accepted by the town. 

A substantial stone wall was built on the south and east sides of the 
addition, and it was divided into ten lots. Mr. Brooks chose number 
four, and Mr. Lawrence number five. The remainder of the lots were 
sold at auction. 

A few years ago, some of the lots having been abandoned by their 
proprietors, the town sold a small parcel of land to the late Charles H. 
Day, who purchased the old Baptist Church and land. 

THE CROSS STREET BURYING GROUND. 

August 19, 181 1 the town of Medford purchased of Jonathan Brooks, 
guardian of Jacob Wait, one acre and forty rods of land on the west 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 79 

side of Cross Street, for the purpose of erecting a poor house ; but at a 
meeting held May 6, 1816, the town voted to use the lot for a burial 
ground, and authorized the selectmen to lay out the same into family 
lots, construct proper passageways, plant trees and otherwise improve 
the same. This was done and many lots were sold. That portion of the 
land devoted to burial purposes was set back from the street. Fronting 
on the street was a school house and pound. 

In 1853, the school house having long since disappeared, the town 
voted to remove the pound, extend the burial grounds to Cross Street, 
and build a suitable iron fence, with a stone base, on the line of said 
street. 

In the article on the old burying place, the action of the town concern- 
ing the encroachment of the railroad upon this burying ground has been 
noted. 

OAK GROVE CEMETERY. 

The crowded condition of the Salem and Cross Street burying grounds 
induced the town, at a meeting held November 12, 1849, to vote to pur- 
chase of Leonard Buckman, lo^ acres on Purchase Street for burial 
purposes. Upon further examination of the land, it became evident 
that it was entirely unsuited for the purpose for which it had been pur- 
chased, and the town voted March 10, 185 1 to build an almshouse 
thereon. 

At a town meeting held July 19, 1852 the town appointed a committee 
"to purchase land for a cemetery." They selected a lot of land con- 
taining about twelve acres, and August 16, 1852 the town voted to pur- 
chase the land. A committee was chosen to lay out the grounds, build a 
receiving tomb, erect fences, etc. The first report of this committee was 
made October 13, 1853. It was recommended that the cemetery be 
called Oak Grove Cemetery, and rules and regulations for its manage- 
ment were submitted, which were adopted at a subsequent meeting. 

Until 1880 the cemetery was under the management, first of the select- 
men then of a committee. In that year it was placed in the hands of 
trustees. 

In 1875 and again in 1903 large additions were made to the cemetery, 
and it is probable that no more land will be needed for burial purposes 
in Medford for a long time to come. 

A monument erected to the memory of Medford soldiers who fell in 
the war of the Rebellion stands near the entrance of the cemetery. It 
was dedicated in 1866. 



8o TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

SEWERAGE SYSTEM. 

The introduction of Spot Pond water into the town soon gave rise to a 
problem much more difficult of solution than that of a water supply. 

In 1873 the first action was taken to introduce a system of sewerage 
for the disposal of the waste. But this movement came to naught, for 
the reason that no suitable outfall for the discharge of sewage could be 
found, the expense of which would not be prohibitive to a town like 
Medford. The inhabitants of Medford were opposed to the use of 
Mystic River as a receptacle for sewage, and were among the first to 
urge the establishment of a Metropolitan system of sewerage. 

In 1875 the city of Boston sought permission of the General Court, to 
direct the sewage of the tanneries of Woburn and Winchester, which 
was discharged into the Aberjona River, one of the tributaries of the 
Mystic Ponds, into the Mystic River. It was at this time that the first 
suggestion for a Metropolitan System of sewerage was made. 

It was made by Medford people, and the co-operation of the towns of 
Arlington, Winchester and Woburn was sought to unite with the town of 
Medford and city of Boston, and build a main sewer for Mystic 
Valley and discharge the same into deep water. This movement did 
not succeed for the reason that the three towns first above named were 
not fully awake to the necessity of such action. Medford, however, did 
not despair, but continued to agitate the subject until at last the State 
Board of Health took up the matter, and after years of persistent effort, 
backed by the aroused sentiment of the cities and towns in this vicinity, 
an act was passed by the General Court providing for the creation of a 
Metropolitan System of sewerage, to be constructed and maintained 
by a Commission to be appointed by the Governor. 

The construction of a main trunk sewer in the Mystic Valley by the 
Commission solved the question, which had for many years troubled 
the people of Medford and made possible the establishment of the pres- 
ent system of local sewerage. 

SOCIETIES. 

Medford has many secret, benefit, fraternal, social and other societies 
and organizations. Among these are Mt. Hermon Lodge of Masons, 
chartered September 12, 1854. 

Mystic Royal Arch Chapter chartered June 9, 1863. 

Medford Council of Royal and Select Masters chartered December 
8, 1869. 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 8l 

Harmony Lodge No. 68, Independent Order of Odd Fellows instituted 
April 4, 1845. After many years of successful working, interest in the 
lodge declined and its charter was surrendered. In 1874 members of 
the order applied for a new charter, which was granted and the lodge 
instituted March 13, 1874. 

Mt. Vernon Lodge No. 186, 1. O. O. F. instituted September 4, 1878. 

Mystic Encampment No. 81, I. O. O. F. instituted April 30, 1896. 

Mystic Lodge, M. W. I. O. O. F. instituted February 2, 1904. 

Purity Rebeckah Lodge, I. O. O. F. instituted 1891. 

Medford Lodge No. 231, Knights of Honor instituted February 18, 
1876. 

Mystic Lodge No. 883, K. of H. instituted February 7, 1878. 

Home Lodge No. 124, Knights and Ladies of Honor instituted Decem- 
ber 31, 1878. 

Medford Council, Royal Arcanum instituted May 31, 1878. 

Charles F. Loring Council, R. A. instituted April 13, 1892. 

Medford Council No. 141, Knights of Columbus instituted December 
27, 1895. 

Division No. 4, Ancient Order of Hibernians instituted August, 1895. 

Hiawatha Tribe No. 34, Improved Order of Red Men instituted 
February 3, 1887. 

Medford Lodge No. 195, Benevolent Order of Elks instituted May 
27, 1904. 

Cradock Lodge No. 104, Knights of Pythias instituted August 16, 
1893. 

Trinity Lodge No. 84, New England Order of Protection instituted 
March 29, 1899. 

Cradock Temple No. 43, Rathbone Sisters instituted March 15, 1905. 

Middlesex Chapter No. 64, Order Eastern Star instituted November 
8, 1898. 

Mystic Court No. 77, M. C. O. F. instituted December 12, 1889. 

Brooks Commandery United Order Golden Cross instituted January 
7, 1889. 

Court, City of Medford, Foresters of America instituted 1890. 
S. C. Lawrence Post No. 66, Grand Army of the Republic organized 
August 21, 1868. 

General S. C. Lawrence Camp No. 54, Sons of Veterans organized 
January 28, 1888. 

General S. C. Lawrence Legion of Spanish War Veterans No. 31 
Drganized January 25, 1903. 



82 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

S. C. Lawrence Woman's Relief Corps No, 5 organized May, 1879. 

Sarah E. Fuller Tent, Daughters of Veterans organized March, 1898. 

Sarah Bradlee Fulton Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution 
organized November 3, 1896. 

The Medford Club chartered May 6, 1902. 

The Neighborhood Club chartered 1892. 

The Woman's Club chartered May 3, 1897. 

Medford Boat Club chartered 1898. 

Medford Home for Aged Men and Women chartered November 19, 
1 901. 

Visiting Nurse Association organized June, 1900. 

Medford Historical Society chartered May 22, 1896. 

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 

Medford has three flourishing financial institutions: — The Medford 
Savings Bank, chartered in 1869; the Medford Co-operative Bank chart- 
ered in 1886 and the Medford National Bank chartered in 1900. 

WATER SUPPLY. 

In 1867 The Spot Pond Water Company was incorporated. The 
incorporators were three gentlemen from each of the three towns of 
Maiden, Melrose and Medford. The Act provided "that the towns of 
Melrose, Maiden and Medford or any two of them in case the remaining 
town declines to participate in said purchase may at any time within 
fifteen years from the time this Act takes effect, purchase the franchise of 
said corporation and all its corporate property by paying for all expendi- 
tures, and ten per cent interest." 

In September, 1869 the tovm appointed a Board of Water Commission- 
ers and authorized it to purchase the franchise of the Spot Pond Water 
Company in connection with Maiden and Melrose or either of them, and 
" to contract for the construction of all works necessary for the introduc- 
tion of a supply of pure water from Spot Pond into Medford, and for 
conducting the same throughout such streets as in their judgment may 
be expedient or as they may be hereafter directed by the town." In 
January, 1870 the Commissioners reported to the town that they had 
purchased the franchise of the Water Company at a cost to the town of 
$247, and it was voted, "that the town issue, and hereby authorizes and 
directs the issue of its notes, scrip, or certificates of debt, in form required 
by law, to an amount not exceeding One hundred and twenty-five thous- 
and dollars, payable twenty years from the date of issue, and bearing 
interest at the rate of six per centum, per annum, payable semi-annually." 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. 83 

In May of that year a contract was made with George H. Norman to 
lay about eighteen miles of water pipes. The water was first let on to 
the pipes for the use of the town in the fall of 1870, and was supplied by 
way of Maiden, through the Salem Street main. This gave a supply to 
only a portion of the town, but in the spring of 1871, the Forest Street 
main was finished and the whole town was supplied through an independ- 
ent main, direct from the pond. 

In 1894 it became evident that Spot Pond could not long be depended 
upon for an adequate water supply for three such growing municipalities 
as Medford, Maiden and Melrose. The city therefore took measures 
to increase its water supply by making improvements in Wrights' Pond, 
which with the surrounding lands, had been acquired by the town some 
years before. The height of the dam at the pond was increased. A 
pumping station and stand pipe for high service erec*;ed and other im- 
provements made giving to the City an increased supply of water, which 
answered only as a temporary measure but could not be depended upon 
for the near future. The uncertainty of an adequate water supply for 
future wants was not confined to the three municipalities that owned the 
franchise of Spot Pond. It affected Boston and other cities and towns 
in the vicinity. The problem was so great that it could not be solved 
by any one municipality. Accordingly the General Court established a 
Metropolitan Water District and a Board of Water Commissioners was 
appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth to take the subject 
under consideration and to carry out the provisions of the Act. An ac- 
count of their doings is not necessary at this time, suffice it to say that 
on January i, 1898 the Commissioners took Spot Pond and its shores 
under their charge, raised the level of the water by increasing the height 
of the dam at its outlet and further increased its storage capacity by 
dredging and other improvements. This being done, connection was 
made with the water supply of the city of Boston (also taken by the Met- 
ropolitan Commissioners), and a large storage basin constructed in West 
Boylston and vicinity, which promises to furnish the MetropoUtan Water 
District of which Medford forms a part with an ample supply of water 
for many years. The City expects and will probably soon receive quite 
a large award as damages for the taking of Medford's share of the fran- 
chise of Spot Pond and lands within its water shed. 

TOWN AND CITY HALL. 

Prior to the erection of the first meeting house the inhabitants of Med- 
ford met for the transaction of town business at private houses. 



84 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

The first, second and third meeting houses were built at the expense 
of the town, and were used both for town and parochial purposes. In 
1826, after the formation of the Second Parish, the right of the town to 
hold its meetings in the meeting house was contested by the First Parish. 
The subject was referred to the Courts, and the decision was that the 
First Parish succeeded to all the rights the town had enjoyed while there 
was but one parish within its limits. Soon after this decision of the Court 
the question of building a Town Hall came up for consideration, but no 
definite action was taken until March 4, 1833, when the town adopted 
the recommendation of a committee previously appointed to consider 
the subject, and voted to purchase a lot of land on the corner of Main and 
High Streets belonging to the heirs of Samuel Buel, for the location of 
the building. The plan called for a building sixty-five feet in length and 
forty feet in breadth with eighteen feet posts. The length was extended 
to seventy feet. After the use of the meeting house was denied the 
town and during the construction of the new house, meetings of the 
town were held in Kendall's tavern (Medford^ House). October 27, 
1839 the building was partially destroyed by fire. When rebuilt it was 
made thirteen feet longer and the south end built of brick. October 
18, 1850 it was again partially destroyed and again rebuilt. When 
Cradock bridge was rebuilt to a width of fifty-two feet it became neces- 
sary to move the buildings on the west side of Main Street between the 
river and High Street in order to make the width of the street conform 
to that of the bridge. Owing to the angle made by the street and river 
it was also necessary to move these buildings north towards High Street. 
When the City Charter was adopted the town building was remodeled 
to accommodate the new city government. 

TUFTS COLLEGE. 

Tufts College is situated on College Hill (formerly Walnut Tree Hill). 
The boundary line between the cities of Medford and Somerville runs 
through its grounds. Most of the college buildings are in Medford. 

The establishment of the college was the work of the Uni^^ersaHst de- 
nomination, although in its workings it is far from being a denomina- 
tional college. It received its name from Mr. Charles Tufts of Somer- 
ville, who gave to it twenty acres of land upon the condition that it be 
made the site of a college, and should bear his name. He afterwards 
increased his gift of land to the amount of nearly one hundred acres. 
The charter of the college was granted by the General Court April 21, 
1852, and it conferred upon the institution authority to confer every kind 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD. o 

of a degree usually given by colleges, except medical degrees This 
res ncnon was removed in ,867. The Rev. Hosea BMloZ7.-,T^^ 

M.w;:rre •gn'ed"„'F:c z'rr'''' '' ^-- ''"'- 

,s,r L .1, T> t, '^«°™"3', 1875, and was succeeded in March 

CaL ^h ,f " T "■ ^"P^"- ^'""^ "- administration ofDr' 
Capen ,he college made a most remarkable growth. He died Marl .. 
1905. as successor has not yet been chosen. Among the bene actS 
of this college were Sylvanus Packard, Oliver Dean ThnlTir I 
dard and wife, Dr. WUliam J. Walker Timo hy Stiirjos Ph Mat 
nmg, Alonzo A. Miner, Charles Robinson, Albert Cca'lf PMnef T 

seZ;e:,tnt^::\^r4"rt:t^:,,--°"^^^^^ 

MEDFORD A CITY. 

Among the causes that led to the adoption of a city charter hv th, • 

mtraTthe TT 7? '''''' '° ^^''^ ""*' one'mun .^g tl 
ment all the territory of the town as it then eT;<;tpH a • , . 

be secured The petitioners represented that they were opposed^f. 

city form of governmenf c>r,A ^^ • j . "pposea to a 

J guvernment, and desired separation in order to retain fh^ 



86 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Standing all their efiforts, the petitioners were given leave to withdraw. 
Four times again efforts were made to divide the town, and each effort 
met with a similar result. 

At a town meeting held March 9, 1891 a committee of fifteen was ap- 
pointed to consider and report to the town as to the advisability of pe- 
titioning the next Legislature for a City Charter, and further, if such 
petition is deemed advisable to report to the town what form of city 
government would be most desirable, together with any other recom- 
mendations in relation to the same subject. This committee reported 
at a meeting of the tov/n held November 9, 1891 that it had caused a 
census of the town to be taken and that the result showed a population 
of 12,100, and recommended that the town petition the next Legislature 
for an Act of incorporation as a city. The recommendation of the com- 
mittee was adopted and a committee of five chosen to carry out the vote. 
The General Court passed an act of incorporation and at a special meet- 
ing held for the purpose the Charter was accepted by a vote of 382 to 342. 
The Charter provided for the election of a mayor for a term of two years, 
a Board of six Aldermen and a Common Council of eighteen members. 
The first city election was held December 13, 1892; Samuel C. Lawrence 
was chosen mayor. The new city government was inaugurated January 
2, 1893. Mayor Lawrence served the city one term, declining a re- 
election. He was succeeded by Baxter E. Perry, who served one term, 
Lewis H. Lovering, who served two terms, Charles S. Baxter, who served 
two terms and Michael F. Dwyer, the present incumbent. 

In 1902 it was conceived by those in authority that the workings of a 
dual board of government was not entirely satisfactory. Accordingly 
the General Court of 1903 was petitioned for certain amendments to the 
Charter of 1892. One of these amendments abolished the Common 
Council and increased the number of the Board of Aldermen to twenty- 
one members. Other amendments were asked for, which served still 
further to centralize the powers of government into the hands of a few. 
The General Court granted the amended Charter, and it was duly ac- 
cepted by the voters of the city. Hardly two years have gone by since 
the amended Charter was adopted and signs of dissatisfaction with it are 
growing more evident day by day. 

The population of Medford since the first inauguration of a city gov- 
ernment has increased from 12,000 to 20,000, and its valuation as esti- 
mated by the Board of Assessors has increased from 11,000,000 to 
21,000,000 dollars. Improvements have been made in our streets, water 
supply, sewerage and drainage systems, school accommodations and all 




GEN. SAMUEL C. LAWRENCE 
FIRST MAYOR OF MEDFORD 



HISTORY OF MEDFORD, 



87 



Other matters that go to make Medford one of the most desirable places 
of residence in the vicinity of Boston. 

The following statistics are copied from the City Report of 1905: — 



1900. 

18,244 



Population 

1890. 1895. 

11,079 14,474 

Number of polls May i, 1904 . 
Number of dwelling houses assessed May i, 1904 
Assessed valuation May i, 1904, personal 
Assessed valuation May i, 1904, real estate 
Total assessed valuation May i, 1904 
Miles of accepted streets .... 
Miles of private streets (about) . 

Miles of streets in control of Metropolitan Park Commission 
Miles of Metropohtan Parkways .... 
Square yards bitulithic pavement .... 
Square yards granite block paving . . . 
Square yards brick pavement on six-inch concrete base 

Miles of domestic sewers 

Miles of Metropolitan sewers 

Number of connections with Metropolitan sewers regulator 

Without regulator 

House connections 

Miles of Metropolitan water pipe 



1905. 
20,000 

5,538 

3,552 

• $2,855,750 

$18,186,400 

$21 ,042,150 

51478 

27 

2.756 

4.709 

3»994 

2,460 

267 

48.46 

5.02 

15 
2 

4 

12.3 



INCEPTION 

AND 

DEVELOPMENT 




DAVID H. BROWN 
CHAIRMAN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, PRESIDENT MEDFORD HISTCRICAL SOCIETY 



INCEPTION AND DEVELOPMENT. 

The advisability of celebrating the two hundred and seventy-fifth An- 
niversary of the settlement of Medford had been discussed by many of 
our residents for over a year; and, while they seemed very generally in 
favor of it, no definite steps were taken until April 9, 1904, when at the 
urgent suggestion of David H. Brown, President of the Medford Histori- 
cal Society, Rosewell B. Lawrence moved in a meeting of the Board of 
Directors "that it is the opinion of the Board of Directors that the 275th 
anniversary of the founding of the town of Medford should be celebrated" 
and it was voted and referred to the Society for approval. At the same 
meeting of the Board of Directors it was also voted, "That the Mayor 
and city government be invited to attend the meeting of the Society, 
April i8th, 1904." 

At the next regular meeting of the Society held April 18, 1904, the rec- 
ommendations of the Board were presented and, on motion of Will C. 
Eddy, it was voted "that the recommendations of the Board of Directors 
in regard to the celebration of the 275th Anniversary of the founding of 
the town of Medford be accepted and endorsed by the Society." George 
S. Delano moved that President David H. Brown, Vice-President Rose- 
well B. Lawrence, Judge WilHam Gushing Wait, Frederick H. Kidder, 
and Will G. Eddy constitute a committee to represent the Medford His- 
torical Society to confer with the city government in regard to the cele- 
bration of the 275th Anniversary of the founding of the town of. Medford 
and report to the Society." This was unanimously adopted. 

On November 21, 1904, the Society passed the following vote — "That 
the committee of the 275th Anniversary have the use of the rooms at any 
time except on Saturday evenings." 

Thus started the first active and definite action looking towards the 
celebration, and, as a result of the conference, the city government 
pledged itself in support of the project, as the following "resolve" will 
show : — 

In Board of Aldermen, May 17, 1904. 
Be it Resolved 

That the Board of Aldermen of Medford endorse the project of the 
Medford Historical Society to celebrate the 275th Anniversary of the 
founding of the town of Medford ; and that a committee of seven be ap- 
pointed by the Ghair, of which the President shall be one, to co-operate 
with the Historical Society. 



92 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

A committee consisting of Mayor Charles S. Baxter, and a member of 
the Board from each Ward,— Edmund H. Pennell, Walter F. Gushing, 
John Coulson, Edward W. Teele, Daniel W. Johnson, and CUfford M. 
Brewer — was appointed to represent the city in the preparations for the 
celebration. The first meeting of this joint committee was held October 
lo, 1904, when David H. Brown was elected chairman, Will C. Eddy, 
secretary, and Walter F. Gushing, treasurer. 

One of the important votes passed at this meeting was that the date 
of the celebration be June 15-18, 1905, inclusive. 

On October 22, 1904, is was voted "that the original committees from 
the Historical Society and the city government serve as the Executive 
Gommittee.' ' 

Committees were appointed to carry out various portions of the cele- 
bration work, and everybody settled down to a determined purpose to 
make the Anniversary one worthy of the city they were to represent. 

In December, 1904, Michael F. Dwyer was elected Mayor of the city, 
and on December 28 he was elected a member of the Executive Gom- 
mittee. 

The Gommittee voted to ask the city government to add to the 
Executive Gommittee by appointing one other member from each 
ward, with the following result: — 

In Board of Aldermen, January 10, 1905. 

On account of request received from the 275th Anniversary Gommittee 
for appointment of representatives of Gity Government of 1905, the 
ollowing were appointed: — 

WilUam H. Bacheller, John W. Enwright, William E. Grosby, Frank 
Lewis, Reuben M. Pitman, Hervey A. Hanscom, and Gharles R. Byram, 

Jr. 

As affairs progressed, the city government passed the following orders 
regarding the celebration: — 

In Board of Aldermen, January 19, 1905. 
Be it ordered. 

That the Gity Solicitor be and hereby is requested, in behalf of the 
Gity, to petition the General Gourt to authorize the Gity of Medford to 
raise by taxation and expend a sum of money not to exceed Three Thou- 
sand Dollars ($3,000) in amount in celebrating, during the current year, 
the 275th Anniversary of the settlement of Medford. 
In Board or Aldermen January 19, 1905. 

Adopted. Allston P. Joyce, Gity Glerk. 

Approved, January 20, 1905. 
Michael F. Dwyer, Mayor. 



INCEPTION AND DEVELOPMENT. 93 

(Chap. 85.) 

An Act to authorize the city of Medford to appropriate money for 
the purpose of celebrating its two hundred and seventy-fifth Anniversary. 
Be it enacted, etc., as follows: 

Section i. The city of Medford is hereby authorized to raise by taxa- 
tion and to appropriate and expend a sum of money not exceeding three 
thousand dollars, for the purpose of celebrating, during the current year, 
the two hundred and seventy-fifth Anniversary of the settlement of Med- 
ford. 

Section 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. (Approved 
February 17, 1905.) 



In Board of Aldermen, March 21, 1905. 
Be it ordered. 

That the sum of two thousand dollars ($2,000) be and hereby is ap- 
propriated for the purpose of celebrating Medford's 275th Anniversary, 
the money so appropriated to be raised by taxation the current year and 
to be expended under the direction of the Mayor. 
In Board of Aldermen, March 21, 1905. 

Adopted. Allston P. Joyce, City Clerk. 

Approved, March 29, 1905. 
Michael F. Dwyer, Mayor. 



Medford May 23, 1905. 
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen, 

Gentlemen: — The undersigned respectfully prays that the use of the 
Aldermanic Chamber and Committee Rooms at the City Hall be granted 
to the Hospitality Committee on the 275th Anniversary of the settlement 
of Medford, on June 15, 16 and 17, for the purpose of receiving and en- 
tertaining visitors to the city on said dates. 

(Signed) DAVID H. BROWN, 

Chairman Anniversary Committee. 
In Board of Aldermen, June i, 1905. 
Received and petition granted. 

Allston P. Joyce, City Clerk. 



In Board of Aldermen, June i, 1905. 
Be it ordered, 

That the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars ($150.00) be and hereby 
is appropriated for the purpose of decorating the City Buildings for the 



94 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNFVERSARY. 

275th Anniversary of Medford — the amount so appropriated to be paid 
from the account ''Miscellaneous Credits" and expended under the di- 
rection of the Mayor. 

In Board of Aldermen, June i, 1905. 

Adopted. Allston P. Joyce, City Clerk. 

Approved, June 3, 1905. 

Michael F. Dwyer, Mayor. 



In Board of Aldermen, June 13, 1905. 
Be it ordered, 

That the sum of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) be and hereby is 
appropriated to be expended under the direction of the Mayor for addi- 
tional police protection during the days of the celebration of the 275th 
Anniversary of the settlement of Medford, namely, June 15th, i6th, 17th 
and 18th next, said appropriation to be charged to miscellaneous credits. 
In Board of Aldermen, June 13, 1905. 

Adopted. Allston P. Joyce, City Clerk. 

Approved, June 21, 1905. 

Michael F. Dwyer, Mayor. 



In Board of Aldermen, July 11, 1905. 
Be it ordered. 

That the sum of $275.00 be and hereby is appropriated for the purpose 
of meeting expenses incurred by the 275th Anniversary the same to be 
paid out under the direction of the Mayor and paid from the account 
"Miscellaneous Credits." 
In Board of Aldermen, July 11, 1905. 

Adopted. Allston P. Joyce, City Clerk. 

Approved, July 13, 1905. 

Michael F. Dwyer, Mayor. 

The committee in charge of the finances was dihgent in securing sub- 
scriptions, and voluntary contributions were secured to the amount of 
$2,257.05. To this the city added at various times $2,625.00. 

On January 26, 1905, the Executive Committee received notice from 
the Board of Managers of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, 
through Lombard Williams of this city, that they would assist in recog- 
nizing the 275th Anniversary by "marking in enduring bronze the most 
important historic spot of Revolutianary days in Medford," such spot 
to be selected by the Medford Historical Society. The communication 




WILL C. EDDY 
SECRETARY EXECUTIVE AND 
PUBLISHING COMMITTEES 



CHARLES B. DUNHAM 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON DECORATIONS 



WALTER F. GUSHING 
TREASURER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 
CHAIRMAN PUBLISHING COMMITTEE 



WILLIAM E, CROSBY 
EXECUTIVE AND MUSIC COMMITTEES 
IN CHARGE OF MUSIC SUNDAY SERVICES 



GEORGE B. MEANS 
PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMMITTEES 



INCEPTION AND DEVELOPMENT. 95 

was referred to the committee on Historic Sites by the Society, and re- 
sulted in placing a tablet on High Street to the memory of Capt. Isaac 
Hall. 

This was followed by a similar expression on the part of the Sons of 
the American Revolution, and a bronze tablet was placed on the Sav- 
ings Bank building to the memory of Governor Brooks. 

In his inuagural, the Mayor referring to the coming celebration said — 
"This is to be a year of anniversaries. Two hundred and seventy-five 
years ago Medford was founded, and the event ought to be fittingly cele- 
brated, as most of us will never again have such an opportunity to show 
our veneration and respect for the brave pioneers who first planted the 
seeds of civilization upon our soil." 

A meeting of all the committees was held in Tufts Hall, April 13, 1905, 
at which nearly one hundred were present. The whole work was out- 
Hned and discussed, and, as a result, the celebration was given a start 
forward that was of the greatest benefit to all concerned. 

How well the work was done, and how successful the results, is left to 
to the citizens to judge. Nearly every resident of Medford seemed anx- 
ious to do all possible to assist the various committees, and the program 
as planned was carried through. 

With this was registered a new page in the history of Medford and one 
long to be remembered pleasantly by every one. 

It speaks well for the management when it is noted that the entire 
affair passed off without a single arrest, considering the thousands who 
visited the city during the five days of the celebration. 

Will C. Eddy, Secretary. 
Medford, Sept. i, 1905. 



96 



TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



COMMITTEES. 
27STH ANNIVERSARY OF MEDFORD. 



HONORARY COMMITTEE. 

Samuel C. Lawrence, Chairman, Charles S. Baxter, 

Michael F. Dwyer, 

Peter C. Brooks, 

Shepherd Brooks, 

Daniel A. Gleason, 

Norwood P. Hallowell, 

James A. Hervey, 

Lewis H. Lovering, 



James E. Wellington, 
Daniel W. Lawrence, 
Asa Law, 

Jophanus H. Whitney, 
Nicholas White, 
John Hutchins, 
George B. Green. 



EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 



David H. Brown, Chairman, 
Will C. Eddy, Secretary, 
Walter F. Cushing, Treasurer, 
Michael F. Dwyer, 
Chfford M. Brewer, 
John Coulson, 
Daniel W. Johnson, 
Frederick H. Kidder, 
Rosewell B. Lawrence, 
Edmund H. Pennell, 
Charles H. Morss, 
Prof. Leo. R. Lewis, 
John H. Hooper, 
Charles H. Loomis, 
David R. Harvey, 
Josiah R. Teel, 
Irwin O. Wright, 



John 



Edward W. Teele, 
William Cushing Wait, 
Charles S. Baxter, 
William H. Bacheller, 
John W. Enwright, 
William E. Crosby, 
Frank Lewis, 
Reuben M. Pitman, 
Hervey A. Hanscom, 
Charles R. Byram, Jr., 
Allston P. Joyce, 
Benjamin F. Fenton, 
Charles R. Byram, 
Charles B. Dunham, 
Rev. Henry C. DeLong, 
Wilton B. Fay, 
Lewis H. Lovering, 
Crowley. 



LITERARY EXERCISES. 

David H. Brown, Chairman, Rev. Henry C. DeLong, 

Frederick H. Kidder, Rosewell B. Lawrence, 

Leonard J. Manning, John F. Libby. 




WILTON B. FAr 
EXECUTIVE AND FINANCE COMMITTEES 



CLIFFORD M. BREWER 
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 



EX-MAYOR LEWIS H. LOVERING 
EXECUTIVE AND FINANCE COMMITTEES 



EDWARD W. TEELE 
EXECUTIVE AND FINANCE COMMITTEES 



JOSIAH R. TEEL 
EXECUTIVE AND FINANCE COMMITTEES 



COMMITTEES. 



97 



SCHOOL EXERCISES. 

Charles H. Morss, Chairman, Henry B. Doland, 

Charles N. Jones, 

Walter H. Gushing, 

Mrs. James M. G. Plummer, 

Mrs. Norwood P. Hallowell, 



Harry Highley, 
Mrs. Louise F. Hunt, 
George E. Davenport, 
Wilham H. Couch. 



INVITATIONS. 

Allston P. Joyce, Chairman, Mrs. John Morrison, 



George O. Foster, 
J. Gilman Waite, 
WilHam A. Thompson, 
Edward F. Allen, 
Charles H. Parker 
Warren T. Morse, 
Elisha B. Curtis, 
Mrs. Willard L. Dalrymple, 



Miss Ellen Lane, 
Miss Lilly B. Atherton, 
Charles S. Taylor, 
Herbert N. Ackerman, 
George W. W. Saville, 
Miss Mary Ellen Nickerson, 
Martin F. Stinson, 
Darius A. Green. 



ATHLETICS. 



Charles S. Baxter, Chairman, 
Gilbert Hodges, 
Henry S. Bridge, 
John W. Hallowell, 
John B. Howard, 



Arthur G. Mather, 
Charles H. Brown, 
Corliss Wadleigh, 
Michael W. O'Neil, 
Charles W. Smith. 



Leo R. Lewis, Chairman, 
Mrs. Edward W. Hayes, 
Mrs. John Morrison, 
Mrs. Wilham J. Reilly, 
Miss Hattie Wells, 
Miss Adelaide S. Herriott, 



MUSIC. 

William E. Crosby, 
George H. Remele, 
Arthur T. Hatch, 
Frank C. Litchfield, 
Joseph F. Curtin, 
Henry W\ Cornell. 



FINANCE. 

Walter F. Gushing, Chairman, John Crowley, 

Josiah R. Teel, WilHam H. Bacheller, 

Irwin O. Wright, Edward W. Teele, 

Lewis H. Lovering, Wilton B. Fay. 



98 



TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



HISTORIC EXHIBIT AND LOAN COLLECTION. 



Benjamin F. Fenton, Chairman, Miss Hetty F. Wait, 



Arthur W. Wellington, 
Herman L. Buss, 
Miss Helen T. Wild, 
Mrs. Henry C. DeLong, 
Mrs. J. Otis Goodwin, 
Miss Fanny E, Bemis, 
Miss Ella L. Burbank, 



Miss Catherine A. Harlow, 
Miss Agnes W. Lincoln, 
Rodney G. Chase, 
George J. Porter, 
Raymond A. Suits, 
Henry M. Begien, 
George S. Hatch, 



Edmund Bridge. 



HISTORIC SITES. 



John H. Hooper, Chairman, 
Moses W. Mann, 
Francis A. Wait, 
Fred H. C. Woolley, 



George W. Hersey, 
Joseph E. Ober, 
James Hedenberg, M.D., 
Calvin H. Clark. 



PRESS. 



Charles R. Byram, Chairman, 
Frank W. Lovering, 
Henry W. Pitman, 
George W. Stetson, 
Nahum E. Wilber, 
J. Irving Estes, 



Frederick W. Ford, 
James Smith, 
Clifton Loring, 
Herbert Caryl, 
George B. F. Maxwell, 
George F. Richmond, 



Frank H. Stanyan. 



PRINTING. 



Edmund H. Pennell, Chairman, 
George S. T. Fuller, 
Asa R. Minard, 
George B. Means, 



George S. Delano 
Edward W. Teele, 
WiUiam I. Parker, 
Samuel S. Thorpe. 



BANQUET. 

Charles H. Loomis, Chairman, J. Mott Hallowell, 



William Leavens, 
Ernest B. Moore, 



James C. D. Clark, M.D., 
Edward P. Boynton. 




CHARLES R. BYRAM 
CHAIRMAN PRESS COMMITTEE 

ROSEWELL B. LAWRENCE 
EXECUTIVE AND LITERARY EXERCISES COMMITTEES 
EDMUND H. PENNELL 
CHAIRMAN PRINTING COMMITTEE 



CHARLES H. MORSS 
CHAIRMAN SCHOOL EXERCISES 



BENJAMIN F. FENTON 
CHAIRMAN HISTORIC EXHIBIT AND LOAN COLLECTION 



COMMITTEES. 



99 



DECORATIONS. 

Charles B. Dunham, Chairman, Andrew F. Curtin, 
AUison M. Stickney, 



Joseph R. DeCamp, 
George M. Haushalter, 
Henry W. Poor, 
Mrs. Joseph W. Loud, 
Mrs. Edward T. Bigelow, 
Miss Helen McKay, 
Miss Edith Scott, 



Frank G. Grady, 
David R. Harvey, 
Michael J. Rowan, 
John W. Sweeney, 
David G. Melville, 
J. Walter Bean, M.D., 
Nahum E. Wilber, 
Charles W. Enright, 
Myron G. Curtis. 



HOSPITALITY. 



David R. Harvey, Chairman, 
Harry B. Ballou, 
William A. Thompson, 
Andrew F. Curtin, 
Leonard Tufts, 
W^illiam T. Jenney, 
Charles M. Green, M.D., 
William H. Casey, 
Arthur E. Lemont, 
Frank R. Dame, M.D., 
Augustus L. Ordway, 



John W. Bragdon, 
Charles D. Archibald, 
William H. Warren, 
Mrs. William Leavens, 
Mrs. Charles H. Loomis, 
Mrs. George L. Goodale, 
Mrs. Isabelle A. Dame, 
Mrs. J. Walter Bean, 
Mrs. Lewis H. Lovering, 
Miss EHza M. Gill, 
James P. Richardson. 



CHURCH SER\^CES. 

Rev. Henry C. DeLong, Chairman Rev. Sylvester S. Klyne, 



Rev. Frank I. Paradise, 
Rev. Thomas L. Flanigan, 
Rev. Edgar C. Bridgham, 
Rev. Maurice A. Levy, 
Rev. George M. Butler, 
Rev. Burt Leon Yorke, 
Rev. Edwin S. Hatton. 



Rev. Nathan R. Wood, 
Rev. Theodore A. Fischer, 
Rev. Homer B . Potter, 
Rev. John Wild, 
Rev. WlUiam W. Hackett, 
Rev. Clarence L. Eaton, 
Rev. Nathaniel J. Merritt, 



PARADE AND FIREWORKS. 

Mayor Michael F. Dwyer, Capt. Otto J. C. Neilson, 

Gen. Jophanus H. Whitney, Lieut. Orville J. Whitney, 

Maj. Francis Meredith, Jr., Lieut. Thomas F. McGuine, 

Capt. Herbert F. Staples, Mr. WiUiam H. Flowers, 

Mr. Richard J. Dwyer. 




DAVID R. HARVEY 
CHAIRMAN, HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE 



JOHN W. ENWRIGHT 
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 



EX-MAYOR CHARLES S. BAXTER 
CHAIRMAN ATHLETICS COMMITTEE 



ALLSTON P. JOYCE 
CHAIRMAN, INVITATIONS COMMITTEE 



CHARLES H. BROWN 
ACTING CHAIRMAN, ATHLETICS COMMITTEE 



PROGRAM 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 1905, 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLET 
IN MEMORY OF CAPT. ISAAC HALL. 




PHOTO BY W. L. IIAl.r.\M.ETH, .MAl.LiEN 

TABLET TO CAPT. ISAAC HALL 

PLACED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY SONS 

OF THE REVOLUTION JUNE 14 1905 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLET IN MEM- 
ORY OF CAPT. ISAAC HALL. 

As a prelude to the four days' celebration of the 275th anniversary of 
the settlement of Medford, and in commemoration of Flag day, the So- 
ciety of the Sons of the Revolution dedicated a tablet on a bowlder of 
Medford granite to the memory of Capt. Isaac Hall, who commanded 
the Medford minutemen at Lexington and Bunker Hill in the Revolu- 
tionary War. 

The bowlder is in place in the yard of the former residence of Capt. 
Hall, corner of Bradlee Road and High Street. On the bronze tablet 
facing High Street is this inscription: — 

ON THIS SITE LIVED 

CAPTAIN ISAAC HALL 

WHO COMMANDED THE MEDFORD MINUTE MEN 
AT LEXINGTON AND BUNKER HILL. 

PAUL REVERE STOPPED HERE 

ON HIS MEMORABLE RIDE TO CONCORD APRIL 1 8-1 9, 1775. 

TO Vi^ARN CAPTAIN HALL 

THAT THE BRITISH SOLDIERS WERE ON THE MARCH. 



PLACED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY 

SONS OF THE REVOLUTION 

JUNE 14, 1905. 

The presentation address was made by Eben F. Thompson, Esq., of 
Worcester, Mass., Vice-President of the Society of the Sons of the Revo- 
lution, who spoke as follows: — 



104 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

ADDRESS OF EBEN F. THOMPSON, ESQ. 

Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen: — 

Tomorrow you begin the celebration of the 275th Anniversary of the 
settlement of your city, and the Society of the Sons of the Revolution 
brings you its greetings on this eve of your rejoicings. The unveiling 
and presentation of this tablet marking the site of the home of Capt. 
Isaac Hall are but happy prologues to the melUng act of the municipal 
theme. Simple and brief be our task. We join you here upon this day 
consecrated to the flag in celebrating that homely and rugged virtue 
which against uncounted odds sprang to the defence of home and country. 
Ours not the celebration of empire, of royal panoply, and glittering bla- 
zonry, of expanding conquest, but rather the simple, unadorned virtues 
of love of home and country, of Saxon manliness that refused to yield to 
Saxon power, love of God and freedom to worship as conscience bade. 

He whose dwelling this tablet commemorates represented these virtues 
in action; no vacillation, no pause to consider the personal consequences, 
no waiting for an opportunity to be seen of men, he responded to the 
Lexington alarm when fired was "the shot heard 'round the world." 
As persevering as he was responsive, untiring, undismayed, he was at 
Dorchester Heights. He was with Warren, too, at Bunker Hill. In 
him we celebrate a type of American manhood, and the nearer we can 
attain to its simple manliness, the better for ourselves and for our country. 

Today we have no just fear of so-called foreign invasion; it is we of 
the older generation who need to cultivate patriotism. "The fault, 
dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings." 

The motto of your noble and liberal institution of learning, which like a 
beacon crowns your rolling hills, and which soon, I doubt not, will cele- 
brate the anniversary of its opening, — the old motto of Tufts College, 
" Onward, upward,' ' may well be today your word of inspiration. 

We thank you, Mr. Mayor, for the opportunity of participating in your 
celebration. May this tablet tell the tale to future generations, the tale 
borne on the breeze of that April morning at Lexington of political equal- 
ity and freedom of opportunity to all the sons of men, that working with 
other influences the public conscience may be kept aroused that the 
legions of greed and political corruption may be ever overcome when the 
voice of a free people speaks in trumpet tones, that the fires may brightly 
burn as of yore upon the altar of our liberties, and that the foundations 
of the Republic may endure. (Applause.) 

At the conclusion of Mr. Thompson 's address, Vernon Howland Hall, 
a lad seven years of age, a descendant of Capt. Isaac Hall and son of R. 



DEDICATION CAPT. HALL TABLET. I05 

Linzee Hall, removed the flag covering the rock and tablet. Mayor 
Michael F. Dwyer then accepted the bowlder and tablet in the following 
words : — 

ADDRESS OF HIS HONOR MICHAEL F. DWYER. 

It afifords me the keenest gratification to accept in behalf of the city 
this memorial to the brave commander of the Medford minutemen of '75. 

Capt. Isaac Hall should long, long ago have been honored for his quick 
response to the knock of Paul Revere. Hardly had the warning of the 
midnight rider been spoken ere this patriot had buckled on his armor, 
aroused the sturdy yeomanry and was on his way to Lexington to strike 
the blow for the freedom which has blessed our land. He nobly did his 
part and, though four of his brave companions gave up their lives in that 
fight, Capt. Hall persevered until the yoke of the oppressor had been 
forever broken. Valiant work he did in the cause of independence, and 
when all was over he again joined his fellow men in the upbuilding of his 
native town. 

His name is honored in our annals. His family strove hard and well 
to make Medford what it is to-day. Their history was for years the 
history of our town. Many of them have gone forth to spread the in- 
fluence of good deeds in other parts of our land. Many of them have 
adorned the halls of legislation and made their indelible marks in the 
wholesome laws that have made our nation great and respected. Mem- 
bers of his race still abide with us, good and useful citizens, esteemed 
for their worth and manhood. Some of them are here present. May 
their tribe increase and may the example of this hero of the Revolution 
spur them, as also us all, to greater deeds in the cause of justice and right. 

This is hallowed ground. Here lived the man to whose bravery and 
manhood we pay tribute today. Next door was the long-time home of 
his compatriot. Gov. John Brooks, of revered memory. Here Revere 
gave his timely warning and here the chivalrous Lafayette trod. Here 
it is fitting this tablet should be placed as a reminder to the present and 
coming generations of the patriotism of the fathers, the men who made 
liberty possible, and established the nation that welcomes to its shores 
the good men of all lands and affords a safe refuge to the oppressed of all 
the earth. May this tablet and this bowlder last forever as enduring as 
our everlasting hills; and may the fame and patriotism of Capt. Isaac 
Hall live on forever an inspiration to the youth of our city and the stranger 
who comes within our gates. (Applause.) 



I06 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-JIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Mr. Thompson introduced Mr. David H. Brown, president of the 
Medford Historical Society, who spoke as follows; — 

ADDRESS or MR. DAVID H. BROWN. 

Mr. President and gentlemen of the Massachusetts Society of the 
Sons of the Revolution: In behalf of the Medford Historical Society 
and the executive committee of the 275th Anniversary, I wish to thank 
you for this beautiful tablet in bronze in honor of Captain Isaac Hall. 
As you know, the matter was referred to the Medford Historical Society 
and by the society to the committee on historic sites. Their decision 
was approved by all. 

This tablet is not only a memorial to Captain Isaac Hall, commander 
of the minutemen, but also to the fifty-nine other brave men of the com- 
pany who responded to that midnight call of Paul Revere, and marched 
to Concord. They knew full well that it was no holiday affair; it was 
no dress parade on the training field. As John Fiske has well said in his 
United States History: "It was a formal defiance of the King, and was 
so regarded.' ' The attempt of General Gage to secure the powder stored 
in Medford aroused the people of the town, and his scheme was de- 
feated. Benjamin Hall, an older brother of Captain Hall, was a member 
of the last Legislature, and of the first Provincial Congress. He had 
sent many supphes to Concord. Reports had gone out that General 
Gage was determined to take possession of the powder stored there. The 
towns in old Middlesex were alarmed. The militia companies were 
already organized as minutemen. They were pledged to march at a 
minute's notice. At last the time had come, at midnight of the i8th of 
April, 1775. At yonder door of this very house, Paul Revere dismounted 
from his foaming steed and gave to Captain Hall the fateful tidings of 
the march of British troops to take possession of the stores at Concord. 
The prompt march of the Medford company seems to have been the first 
response to Paul Revere's call, and the beginning of that extraordinary 
movement of a few farmers to resist the trained soldiers of the British 
King, and assert their right to liberty. Thus understood, Mr. President, 
this tablet marks an event of national, of momentous interest. 

The men at Lexington and Concord and Acton may have got in ahead 
at the "bridge," but according to Miss Wild's admirable history of Med- 
ford in the Revolution, the Medford company followed the British on 
their retreat, overtaking them at Merriam's corner, a little this side of 
Sleepy Hollow cemetery, and followed them all the way to Charlestown 
ferry. They continued their fire until the last troops had embarked. 



DEDICATION CAPT. HALL TABLET. I07 

One Of the Medford company, William PoUey, was mortally wounded 
and was brought to his home, where he died April 25th. 
You all remember the words of Longfellow: 
' ' It was twelve by the village clock 
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. 

* * * * * * 
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, 
And a word that shall echo forever more. 
The fate of a nation was riding that night. " 

(Applause.) 

Mr. Moses W. Mann, on being introduced, unrolled an ancient British 
nag, and spoke as follows:— 

ADDRESS or MR. MOSES W. MANN. 

Mr. Mayor and Fellow Citizens:— 

It has been said that upon an occasion hke this words should be well 
chosen. With this I agree, but must speak without preparation, as it is 
only withm an hour that the flag just alluded to has come into my tempo- 
rary keeping. ^ 

Ontheigthof April,i775,theremarchedup the country road, through 
old Menotomy, now Arlington, the British troops, and in their ranks were 
borne the red flags of England. Captain Hall, with the Medford minute- 
men, had gone by this road, (High Street) the route of Paul Revere 
and were on hand at Lexington. The result we know. 

This flag we hold up before your view is one of those that went up to 
Lexington that day. By the fortunes of war it was there captured I 
doubt not that the British considered its loss as one of the misfortunes 
of war they suffered that day. After its capture, the blue field or union 
upon which was St. George's cross was removed. In its place was sub- 
stituted a square of red silk, and upon the flag were placed-six on one 
side and seven on the other,-thirteen short bars of white, representing 
the colonies As they had no regulariy authorized flag, as the schooi 
children will tell you, until June, 1777, this was one of the designs used 
until the adoption of the stars and stripes as the national flag 

And now a few words as to its history: A minuteman of Essex county 
captured It. Israel Forster was his name. He had a brother who was 
ensign m the Manchester company. Israel Forster died in 1818, and 
willed this flag, which was then in the State House, at Boston, and draped 
around a drum, to his nephew, also named Israel Forster. With some 



Io8 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

reluctance the State authorities gave it up to him. He in turn gave it to 
his nephew, James F. Knight, a veteran of the Civil War, on his return 
from service, and from him it has descended to his son, James A. Knight, 
of West Medford, who exhibits it to the people of Medford this week, 
placing it in my charge. It seems to me there is no more fitting place 
or time to first display it than here, on this spot and occasion, where the 
memory of Captain Hall and the Medford minutemen has been honored. 
When two years ago in the town hall of Lexington I heard the long 
roll beaten on the old and restored to Lexington drum, it required no 
great stretch of the imagination for me to see the band of minutemen 
on Lexington green, and hear the words of Captain Parker, "Don't fire 
unless fired upon; but if they want war let it begin here." So, as we 
look upon this flag, we may see the long line of British troops on their 
march, with this flag and the cross of St. George waving over them, but 
which went not back with them. It is valued as a priceless treasure by 
its owner. Let us look upon it as such. I thank you for your attention. 
(Applause.) 

At the conclusion of the exercises, an adjournment was made to City 
Hall, where Mayor Dwyer read the following letter: — 

My Dear Sir: 

I take pleasure in presenting to the city the painting of the ship "Med- 
ford," built in the yards of my great-grandfather. I hope the city will 
be interested on account of the name and as a symbol of its oldtime 
industry. Believe me to be. 

Very sincerely yours, 

Harriott Magoun Kendall. 
398 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, June 12. 







-r/'M-e^/ 



PROGRAM 

THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1905. 



LITERARY EXERCISES IN OPERA HOUSE. 



Commemorative Exercises 

in observance of the 

Two Hundred and Seventy-Fifth Anniversary 

of the settlement of 

Medford 

Held at Opera House, 

Medford, Massachusetts 

Thursday, June fifteen, nineteen hundred and five. 

programme 

music 

Introduction of the President of the Day 

By Mr. David H. Brown, Chairman of Executive Committee. 
Invocation By Rev. Henry C. DeLong. 

Address of Welcome By His Honor Michael F. Dwyer, Mayor. 

music 

Address By the President of the Day 

Hon. William Cushing Wait 
Chorus, "O Star of Truth" C*. Gounod 

Tufts College Choir 
Oration By Rev. Nehemiah Boynton, D.D., of Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Chorus, "Union and Liberty" ^- Wagner 

Tufts College Choir 

Pogm By Dr. William Everett of Quincy 

Ode Written for the occasion by Annie Hall Gleason 

Sung by Chorus and Audience 

benediction 



BANQUET IN THE ARMORY BUILDING. 



LITERARY EXERCISES. 

INTRODUCTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE DAY BY MR. DAVID H. 
BROWN, CHAIRMAN OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

Ladies and Gentlemen: — 

With these exercises our four days' celebration begins. Medford has 
waited 275 years for this auspicious occasion. As many papers relating 
to different periods of Medford, history have recently been published in 
the Medford Historical Register, it seemed unnecessary to have a regular 
historical address. In the exercises this afternoon and at the banquet 
this evening incidental reference will be made to the history of the an- 
cient town. Tomorrow will be devoted mainly to the children. Their 
love for their native city cannot fail to be aroused and stimulated by what 
they see and hear. 

Tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock a bronze tablet will be unveiled 
and dedicated to the memory of Governor Brooks — Medford's most 
distinguished son. Forty other tablets mark the places where Medford 
men of different generations and their families lived, and where some of 
the old-time industries of the town were carried on. 

Visit those places, read the tablets and learn the history of the town. 
Note the sit^s of the early meeting-houses. See where the schoolhouses 
of the olden time were, and where the taverns stood that were so impor- 
tant a factor in town affairs. 

If you would learn of the social life and habits of the people in bygone 
days, visit and study the historic exhibit and loan collection at the room.s 
of the Medford Historical Society, the Royall House and the Public 
Library. 

If you would see the work of the schools, visit the hall of the High 
School building. While there, examine the beautiful pictures and statu- 
ary in the different rooms, unsurpassed by those in any schoolhouse in 
the State. 

Do not forget the grand water carnival and electric display on the 
Mystic ponds Friday evening and athletic sports Saturday at Brooks 
Plays tead. 

Do not miss the parade of Saturday, for there you will see our citizen 
soldiers and some of our leading industries. On Sunday instead of one 



112 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

church as the town had for 200 years, you can take your choice of twenty 
churches of seven different denominations. 

But I must not detain you longer. I have the honor and the pleasure 
of introducing the President of the day, — a citizen of the city, — a descend- 
ant of some of the early families, educated in our schools and at Harvard, 
now one of our school board, a member of the first Board of Aldermen,^ 
one of the founders of the Medford Historical Society, and its first 
president, filling that place for four years, one of the Executive 
Committee of the 275th Anniversary and who has done much to 
promote its success. He has served Medford faithfully and ably, and 
is now one of the honored judges of the Superior Court of the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts. I present to you the Honorable William 
Cushing Wait as the President of the day. (Applause.) 

The President. The audience will please rise and remain stand- 
ing while the Reverend Henry C. DeLong, for thirty-six years minister 
of the First Parish in Medford, invokes the Divine blessing upon us. 

Invocation by Rev. Henry C. DeLong. 

The President. It is my pleasant duty to ask to welcome you 
to this celebration, a native of Medford who needs no introduction to 
his fellow citizens, on many occasions the able Moderator of our Town 
Meetings, and now His Honor Michael F. Dwyer, Mayor of Medford. 
(Applause.) 

address of VV^ELCOME by his honor MICHAEL F. DWYER, MAYOR. 

It is my sweet privilege to bring to all assembled here today the greet- 
ings of our city. We have met to begin with appropriate exercises the 
celebration of the 275th Anniversary of the settlement of Medford, Massa- 
chusetts. Measured by the life of man, we are old, venerable, only ten 
years younger than Plymouth, the home of the Pilgrim. Still there are 
no signs of old age; you see nothing but youth, progress, improvement. 
Everywhere there are signs of vigor, expansion and growth. All is life 
and energy. Our central square may appear to you quaint and old- 
fashioned. Perhaps we prefer it thus; but go out from here in every 
direction and you will find beautiful scenery, comfortable homes, and a 
contented people. Everywhere are signs of a continued, constant, 
healthy growth. Look around and you will see the best type of American 
citizenship, a kind, loving, painstaking people, who are actuated by the 
highest impulses, and are striving after the loftiest ideals. We have no 
criminal classes, in fact, no classes at all. We are a homogeneous people. 




MRS. DANIEL A. GLEASON 
ODIST 



PROF. LEO R. LEWIS 
CHAIRMAN MUSIC COMMITTEE 



JUDGE WILLIAM GUSHING WAIT 
PRESIDENT LITERARY EXERCISES 
REV. NEHEMIAH BOYNTON, D. D. 
ORATOR LITERARY EXERCISES 

REV. HENRY C. DeLONG 

PASTOR FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH 

CHAIRMAN LITERARY EXERCISES AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 



LITERARY EXERCISES. IIJ 

who think alike, act alike, and are ever looking for the common good. 
No better people, no worthier citizens, no more devout Christians dwell 
in any land or in any clime. Go out among us and see for yourselves. 
You will find grace, refinement, happiness, contentment, peace, pros- 
perity, hope, endeavor, and all the virtues that grace a peace-loving and 
God-fearing community. Our motto is onward and upward. We are a 
Christian people, following as closely as may be the teachings of the 
Saviour of mankind. Peace and happiness are ever with us. Medford 
is a city of homes, a city of a law-abiding, self-respecting people, who, 
while satisfied with their lot, are still striving for higher and nobler aims,, 
purposes and ideals. We have good streets, pure water, excellent schools 
a full library, spacious parks, godly ministers and churches, in fact, all 
that tend to the well being of man. Yet we know that beautiful as our 
city now is, more and better things are to come. We are soon to have 
more fine boulevards, better playgrounds for our children, as pretty a 
basin of water for boating and canoeing as this world affords, and all that 
the genius of man can conceive or accomplish. Bountiful nature has 
been good to us, and the art of man has been called in and will soon make 
our home city the most attractive in this our dear old Commonwealth. 
What more can we ask ? Go, look about for yourselves and see if what 
I say is not true. Medford has a great and assured future. Nothing 
can prevent her from taking the first rank as a dwelling place among her 
sister cities in the old Bay State. 

My friends, I am not here to make an extended address. This is the 
part of those who are to follow. I will not tire you. To those who 
come from afar, to those who are again visiting the home of their birth 
or the scenes of their childhood or early manhood, to all, both citizen 
and stranger, this good city extends a hearty greeting and bids you a 
cordial welcome. May your visit be a pleasant one, and may you enjoy 
the memories of this occasion to the end of your days. May the good 
Lord bless and protect you all. (Applause.) 

ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE DAY, 
HON. WILLIAM GUSHING WAIT. 

Ladies and Gentlemen: — 

Gathered here to celebrate the completion of two hundred seventy- 
five years of the life of Medford, you naturally are impatient to listen to 
the words of the orator and the poet who have been invited to commemo- 
rate this event. In fairness alike to them and to you, any extended ad- 



114 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

dress at this time is out of place. If it attempted in prose fitly to deal 
with the occasion, it would necessarily touch matters more eloquently 
and ably treated in the oration; while if it made the attempt in verse, it 
would be ridiculous. The orator and the poet, busy with the large 
thoughts inspired by the contemplation of two hundred and seventy-five 
years of the life of a New England community, however, have not had 
their attention directed toward one matter deserving a place in the rec- 
ords of today. 

While many have contributed to the success of this celebration, in 
thought, in energy, in time and in money, so that to single out any 
one would be unfair to others, there is, none the less, one citizen to whom 
all who rejoice in this commemoration are indebted — a man not himself 
a native of Medford, but for more than thirty years her good citizen ; the 
man but for whom this 275th Anniversary would have passed without 
fitting recognition; the man whose courage in the face of difiiculties, 
whose enthusiasm in the midst of indifference, whose persistence in spite 
of discouragements, and, above all, whose faith in spite of disappoint- 
ments have made this celebration possible and inevitable. Those who, 
in the future, look back on our records to the festivities of this week and 
the exercises of today, should find inscribed there in letters of gold the 
name of David H. Brown. (Applause.) 

If the words and sentiments of these commemoration exercises serve 
as inspiration to keener joy in Medford's history, to deeper thought for 
her welfare, to more earnest and whole-souled devotion to her interests, 
the purpose and the hope of this observance will be grandly fulfilled. 
(Applause.) 

Chorus, "O Star of Truth," by Tufts College Choir. 

The President. On July 2, 1873, for the first time, so far as I 
can remember, I saw the gentleman whom I am now to present. Then, 
as one of the graduating class from the Medford High School, he led a 
school orchestra in a children's symphony. Immediately after, he put 
aside childish things to enter upon a course of study ending in his gradua- 
tion at Amherst College in 1879 and his preparation for the Christian 
ministry. Since then he has devoted himself to leading us all as children 
of the Heavenly Father to a realization and performance of our parts in 
the grand Harmony of the Universe. 

It is with great satisfaction that Medford asks a native of her territory, 
a graduate of her schools, a man who has won renown as an inspiring 
preacher in the world beyond her borders, to return and address us as the 
Orator of the day. 



LITERARY EXERCISES. II 5 

I present to you Reverend Nehemiah Boynton, Doctor of Divinity. 
(Applause.) 

ORATION BY REV. NEHEMIAH BOYNTON, D.D., 
OF BROOKLYN, N. Y. 

"the ESSENTIAL AMERICAN. " 

Mr. President, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, my Fellow Townsmen : 

It has seemed appropriate to take the thought of the hour up from 
the provincial and local and set it, with such appropriateness as is given 
to me, in its proper place in the national and the universal. For Med- 
ford is distinguished both in situation and in history by her contribution 
to those principles which give to the American spirit its distinctive sig- 
nificance. Therefore I desire to speak to you this afternoon upon the 
theme "The Essential American." 

A little more than a score of years ago, Mr. Bryce, having collated the 
facts for that marvellous book with relation to America which he was 
soon to give to the world, was about to take his steamer for the voyage 
over the sea, when, in conversation with one of our distinguished Ameri- 
cans, as a last word of friendliness and warning he remarked: "Now, 
after all this splendid history, don't lose your Republic; and you have 
about twenty-five years in which to save her." 

The other day the same distinguished gentleman returned to our 
country to notice her development as the years had passed away, and to 
form his own judgments anew concerning the nobility and the perpetuity 
of our American institutions. And as again he took his steamer to re- 
turn to his fatherland, he turned, and as a parting word to one of his 
friends declared that "America, of all peoples in the world, has a right 
to hope." 

It was a remarkable word in itself, and especially a remarkable word 
as coming from a man of the breadth of horizon, the depth of insight and 
the nobility of intellect of Mr. Bryce. But, after all, it was only one of 
the myriad confessions which m^ybe heard in almost any direction today 
concerning the present power and position of our Republic. Certain 
it is that in the last half century something has happened in the develop- 
ment of our American life which has commended our country anew to 
the respect, not to say the admiration and the love, of all the nations of 
the Old World. 

It used to be quite the thing for the dignitaries over the sea to have their 
little laughs and gibes at the weaknesses and the foibles of the young giant 



Il6 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY- FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

of the West. But that is all changed today. Read your DeTocque- 
ville written in the '40s, and see his word to the Frenchmen about 
the prophecy of America! Read your Arnold, written in the '70s, whom 
almost nothing in this terrestrial sphere suited, but who, I think, was 
better suited with America than anything else he ever saw, even if we 
did seem " uninteresting' ' to him ! Read your Bryce with his "American 
Commonwealth,' ' written in the '80s, and hear his words of wholesome 
respect and regard for the growing Republic! Read your Munsterberg, 
who but just now has written for the German people an appreciation of 
the American life and people, urging them to revise their prejudices that 
they may see with a clear vision all that is transpiring in this young and 
distant nation over the sea ! Read them all, and you will find one thing 
which may not be forgotten, namely, that out of a certain scorn, out of a 
certain disrespect, there has come today to be all over the world a pro- 
found regard for, interest in, and admiration of, this land of the free and 
home of the brave. (Applause.) 

What has happened in our American life to secure this surprising and 
this satisfactory result ? How does it happen that we, of all peoples in 
the world today, are in the eye of the nations? Something must per- 
tain, not simply to the institutions of our country, but to her personahties 
as well, to call forth such encomiums and such regard. 

Therefore it seems to me as not unworthy upon this afternoon when 
we permit our minds to run backward over the two hundred and seventy- 
five years which characterize the life of our beautiful and growing city, 
to pause for a moment upon the outset of our celebration, and ask our- 
selves the simple, pertinent question. What is the essential American ? 
After you have stripped him of all his conventionalities and of all the 
things which are incidental to him and to his life, what is that residuum, 
that precipitate, that final, important, imperative thing which gives him 
his place among the nations of the day, and his right to hope for his higher 
place among the nations of tomorrow ? 

We can picture to ourselves the first American in varied ways. We 
can go to Springfield, where our first American sculptor, St. Gaudens, 
has moulded in imperishable bronze the Puritan for us, with his poke 
bonnet and his military cloak. You note the staff which he holds in his 
one hand, and the Bible which he grips in the other. You cannot fail to 
notice those strong features, that splendid carriage, the foot which is set 
just a bit forward as if to suggest what our Mayor implied when he said 
that the motto of our city, yea, of our whole country, is "Ever onward, 
upward!" I am sure you will turn away from this representation of the 



LITERARY EXERCISES. 



117 



Puritan with this one idea in your soul, that there was something in that 
American life which lifted him up, which gave him strength and purpose 
and courage; that he was no mere clay eater; that he was in a real sense a 
sun treader, and that because of the splendid idealism of his life, com- 
bined as it was with practical pursuits and achievements, he gives to the 
world the fundamental demonstration of that which characterizes the 
essential American, namely, his "practical idealism." 

Or if you do not read the story in the imperishable bronze, you can 
find it by suggestion in the words of the poet. You remember that when 
James Russell Lowell was sitting in his study one evening, just at twilight, 
when "the night is beginning to lower," he happened to look over to the 
yonder corner of his study, and thought he saw a phantom, a ghost; 

" Just then the ghost drew up his chair 
And said, 'My name is Standish. 

" 'I come from Plymouth, deadly bored 

With toasts, and songs, and speeches, 
As dull and flat as my old sword. 

As threadbare as my breeches: 
They understand us Pilgrims! they 

Smooth men with rosy faces, 
Strength's knots and gnarls all pared away, 

And varnish in their places! 

" 'He had stiflf knees, the Puritan, 

That were not good at bending; 
The homespun dignity of man 

He thought was worth defending; 
He did not, with his pinchbeck ore, 

His country's shame forgotten. 
Gild Freedom's coffin o'er and o'er, 

When all within is rotten.' ' ' 

Precisely the same thing which St. Gaudens has attempted to embody 
in imperishable bronze, Lowell has succeeded, it seems to me, in embody- 
ing in the beauty and in the nobility of his majestic song. The first 
Americans were idealists. The men who came in 1630 to found this 
town, now city grown, were every one of them men who had the larger 
look and the higher hope and the nobler aspiration. They were men 
who believed in soul and were very sure of God. And while they were 
eager, as every decent man in the world is eager, to secure their point, 



Il8 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Still they were more eager to find themselves always four-square, not only 
toward the amenities, but toward the virtues and toward the righteous- 
ness of Hfe. And America never could have been what she is today but 
for that. 

You remember that Mr. Higginson is credited with the remark that 
Nature said one day: '* Hitherto the English has been my best race. 
Let us put in one drop more of nervous fluid, and make the American." 
If you could find out what was in that drop of nervous fluid, you would 
find out the difference between the American and any other people under 
God's shining heaven. And when you have passed that drop of nervous 
fluid through all your chemical processes, you would find that the thing 
which characterizes the American, which is absolutely essential to him 
ever and always, is not his environment — important as that is — nor his 
education, nor his relation, nor his wealth. The thing which funda- 
mentally characterizes the American, and embraces all these, is the no- 
bility of that spirit of his which, called by any name you will, is his ideal- 
ism. (Applause.) 

During the days of the Civil War, our ambassador in London was 
dining with a company of friends, when one of those little, miserable, 
two-by-four statisticians who are like those people of whom Josh BilHngs 
said that they "know a great many things that aint so," remarked that 
the Union could never be preserved by means of the War because the 
testimony of history was entirely against such a thing. Our ambassador 
turned, and with his quick wit said, "Thank God, we don't have any 
history over there!" If history means what it means predominantly 
across the sea — reckoning the length of days — it is true that we have no 
history over here. Two hundred and seventy-five years are but as an 
hour in the day compared with the hundreds and thousands of years 
through which the Old World Powers can trace their victorious and their 
conquering history. But if history consists, not in time measures, but 
in the uplifting of Ufe, in the widening of horizon, in the cultivating and 
ennobling of great spirits; if history consists in embodying a great idea 
in the heart of a people, which grows with their growth and strengthens 
with their strength ; if history consists in lifting up above a people an ideal 
before which reverentially they bow and worship, then there is no nation 
in all God's world which has the history of this land of the free and home 
of the brave. (Applause.) Because there is no nation in all the world — 
and we love them all today — which is more really and more royally true 
to her fine and simple, and yet sublime, ideals than our own nation. 

Such was the old American. He was made, not by his environment, 
not by his inherent powers, not by his opportunities alone. He was 



LITERARY EXERCISES. Il9 

made by that fine, spiritual possession which was his, which could not be 
tethered to any educational idea, which could not be confined within any 
ecclesiastical harness ; but which has been the guiding star of the entire 
body of that people since the first day when our country became America 
by the landing of the forefathers. 

So much for the "Essential American." What has he done in the 
world ? I shall be reminded at the very outset, I am sure, of the way in 
which he has builded up a great commerce ; but as I wish to speak of that 
a moment later I pass it by. It is incidental any way. Great as has 
been the commercial achievement of the American, it is not his masterful 
achievement, after all. The great achievement of the essential American 
is to be found in the fact that he was wise enough and brave enou^, 
courageous enough and far-sighted enough to entrench his ideaUsm in 
imperishable institutions. 

I do not need to say to you how few the number of years which had 
elapsed before, because of his idealism which worked itself out practically 
for one way, beneath the idea of an educated citizenship, he took out of 
his poverty ample and generous means and founded Harvard College, 
our neighbor just over here. I do not need here in Massachusetts to 
speak of the history of the incarnation of the American's ideaHsm in our 
public libraries and in our public schools. Hundreds of thousands of 
men — and some on this platform among them — rise up today in the man- 
hness of their mature life, to thank God, and thank their dear old town 
as well, for the privileges which were theirs in the public schools, where 
what it was to be an American lodged in their minds and hearts as an 
abiding truth — whether they were always able to pass the necessary ex- 
aminations when the term ended, or not. (Laughter.) The great thing 
which the American has done has been to entrench his ideals in great 
and imperishable institutions. 

People may find fault, if they will, with our politics, — I know that 
they are not what they should be, for we are not living in the millennium 
yet— but no man understands America who is prepared to defend the 
proposition that all idealism has dropped out of politics today. No man 
really understands the genius of our governmental institutions who has 
not learned to find, here and there at least, the bright shining of those 
sparkling jewels of idealism which, as I am contending, are the essential 
possessions of the real American. It is because we have not lost our 
idealism, it is because we still "hitch our wagon to a star," it is because 
we still believe in Emerson's choice verse, that 

"In the mud and scum of things 
Always, always something sings," 



I20 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

that we are what we are today in intelligence, in achievement, in char- 
acter and in aspiration. 

Some one said twenty- five years ago, looking over America, that we 
were in danger of developing a very large body and a very small soul. 
Nobody will question the growth of the girth of America, so far as her 
body is concerned, in the last quarter of a century; but he is a man who 
needs glasses, or something, who cannot see that together with that bod- 
ily growth there has been a real soul growth in our nation. So that we 
think even more of our ideals today, certainly, than we did before the 
Civil War began, and I am inclined to think, even more than we did in 
those early and enthusiastic days after the Civil War had closed. But 
when one turns away from what we have become because of our idealism 
to ask that question which always mounts, What are we to be; what is 
the destiny of our Republic, and what right have we to hope ? we find 
ourselves addressed at once by serious and earnest questions. 

Walt Whitman used to hke to talk about the United States in terms 
of muscles and prairies and rocky mountains; he was always very much 
impressed with the extensive things which have characterized our coun- 
try. And one day, one of the fine Southern poets — too early gone to his 
reward — was sitting with him, and he turned and said to Whitman: 
"You cannot make a republic out of muscles and prairies and rocky 
mountains; repubhcs are made of spirit." It is because the essential 
American always has been, and is today, bound by the splendid enthusi- 
asm of his ideals, that he is what he is and what we believe he will be. 

But some one says, "Is not this pure optimism, and do you forget the 
course of the commercial history of the world in the last quarter of a 
century?" No, I do not forget that! And if there is any one thing 
which the commercial man is realizing as he never reahzed it before, as 
he receives the splendid returns and increments from his labor, it is this — 
that a great commercial superstructure cannot long be reared upon an 
unethical foundation (Applause,) and that men who give themselves to 
business cannot long be the captains of industry and the leaders of finance 
except they themselves are ethically sensitive. The rise all over the 
country today of the ethical appeal is nothing more or less than essential 
Americanism revealing itself in the marts of trade, and calling upon 
every man to be honest with his fellow man, and giving, in our President's 
words, a "square deal" (Applause), not only the profits to whom the 
profits may belong, but that our magnificent commercial superstructure 
may be placed upon a foundation which is absolutely indestructible. 
For, as I said a moment ago, any sane man knows that throughout a 



LITERARY EXERCISES. 121 

series of years you cannot build up in any country a great commercial 
superstructure upon an unethical foundation. But some one turns and 
says, " You forget immigration, when you talk in this way.' ' No, I don't 
forget immigration — and your forefathers and mine were the first immi- 
grants; let us never forget that. (Applause.) 

I went with a friend of mine the other day to visit Ellis Island in New 
York harbor, when twelve thousand immigrants landed. I had the 
pleasure of seeing six thousand of them transformed from the position 
of aliens to the position of — in a certain sense — fellow citizens of yours 
and mine. As I looked at this taking place, the first thing that impressed 
me was a great American flag placed where it was the first thing that 
met their vision as they came into an American institution. Every man 
in the crowd had to take his hat off to the American flag (Applause) and 
if it didn't occiu" to him to do it, there was a man standing there who as- 
sisted him in the operation. (Laughter.) 

There are only eighty miUions of us in America now, and we have 
ample resources, so far as our lands are concerned, to take care of five 
hundred millions of people, not simply hfting them just above the star- 
vation point, but to take care of them in comfort and even in affluence. 
It is not time for us to be afraid of the man who comes from over the sea. 
Of course, there were some people among those twelve thousand im- 
migrants that day at Ellis Island who were undesirable, but not the 
majority. I saw every trait in human nature that day. I saw a bright- 
eyed boy a dozen years of age, and when he passed the doctor success- 
fully I flung up my hat and said, "Hurrah !' ' And I saw a httle Italian 
girl of perhaps thirteen years of age, with bright eyes and rosy cheeks 
which some of the New York belles would have given anything if they 
could have had, with her hair braided in two braids — because she had 
enough hair for two braids. (Laughter.) They had music there. To 
be sure, they didn't have a fine orchestra like this which has greeted us 
here this afternoon, but there was one man who had his guitar, and there 
was another man who had his accordion, and while they were waiting those 
foreigners were playing the national and the popular airs, thus showing 
that in the breast of the immigrant there is the esthetic sense which never 
wanes. I saw there as clear and as wholesome an expression of family 
love as you could produce here in your finest homes in Medford. An 
Italian who had gotten money enough to send for his wife was there to 
greet the dear woman and the little folks as they came out of the govern- 
ment building, and to welcome them as his own in this land of the free 
and home of the brave. (Applause.) And when I saw that dear man 



122 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

holding his wife's hand on a ferry boat where probably there were fifteen 
hundred of us, absolutely immune to those of us who were around, I said 
to myself, ''If you want to kiss her, I hope you will." (Laughter and 
applause.) There is an impression here in America that husbands and 
wives don't get along very well, and I think an object lesson to this great 
company might be of service. (Laughter.) 

In the evening of the same day it fell to my lot to go to the Annual 
Dinner of the New England Society of the Borough of Brooklyn, New 
York. They had the finest band that could be secured in the city; they 
had also secured a boy choir. Mr. F. Hopkinson Smith was there to en- 
tertain the company by reading his fascinating stories. All were elabo- 
rately and beautifully dressed, and everything spoke of culture, refine- 
ment and American society at its best. I saw both those classes eat. 
The immigrant ate at the expense of Uncle Sam — bread and mashed 
potatoes and two great bologna sausages (Laughter), and there didn't 
seem to be one in the whole immigrant colony who had any trouble with 
his digestion. But about eleven o'clock I saw the other people dine; 
everything to tickle the palate was provided, but I didn't see one that 
ate as if he didn't feel he should have a careful fear lest if he over-ate the 
consequences would be serious. (Laughter.) The difference between 
the immigrant at Ellis Island and the beautiful lady and gentleman at 
the Annual Dinner of the New England Society of Brooklyn was only 
the difference between the immigrant prophetically and the immigrant 
after he had been finished off according to the genius of our American 
institutions and the strength, the power and the nobility of our American 
spirit. (Applause.) 

There is only one thing to be feared with relation to the immigrant, 
and that is that he will catch the spirit of national indifference which 
lives with too strong a life in the souls of many of our well-to-do people, 
who think they own America because their ancestors came over two or 
three hundred years ago. Give the immigrant not only the American 
chance, the American opportunity, the American institutions, but give 
him the American ideal, and America is safe — safe for time, and, I say 
it reverentially, safe for eternity. (Applause.) 

There is one thing more to which I wish to allude before I conclude 
these remarks, and that is the peril which some people see to our Ameri- 
can institutions because of the growth of a certain exclusive spirit among 
us, which seems to be a denial of our ideals of democracy and the setting 
up of an aristocracy. It is said that this can be discerned in the caste 
spirit which is growing so prevalent. It is evidenced by the fact that 



LITERARY EXERCISES. 1 23 

our Students now wear the cap and gown ,which used to be thought un- 
democratic. It is seen in the fact of the dififerent classes of passengers 
in trains, and the matter of reserved seats. Still I rejoiced to read the truth 
with relation to that the other day in that book of Professor Munster- 
berg's to which I have alluded upon "The American,"— in the procla- 
mation that the American ideal is still in the ascendant; that we have not 
sold out our birthright as yet. He remarks that in spite of all these 
little seeming aristocracies which are lifting themselves up here and there 
among us, there always comes a time in the history of every one of them 
when the strong American spirit rises up, and, speaking to the individual 
here and there who is aping aristocracy, calmly asks: "Well, what do 
you amount to personally any way?" (Laughter.) Which reminds me 
of the saying that if anyone in Massachusetts rises to remark: "My father 
was a judge, and my grandfather was a Governor, and my great grand- 
father was the President of the United States,' ' the essential thing for an 
American to do would be to turn to such an individual and say: " Well, 
by Jupiter, king of gods and men, who are you ?' ' (Laughter.) 

That is, after all, the great American question today: "Who are you ?' ' 
If you are an ideahst beneath the Stars and Stripes, you have a place 
among us and a right to your name; but if you have everything else ex- 
cept that ideaUsm which always has made the essential American, it 
would be a good thing to contribute a sum of money and permit you — 
as some other Americans have already done — to take up your residence 
in London. (Laughter and applause.) Because, while America is 
very large, she is not large enough today to provide a home for any soul 
which is so small that it refuses to be loyal to her fine institutions and to 
her nobler ideals. (Applause.) 

Mr. Guizot was once asked the question: "How long do you think 
the American Republic will endure?" His fine answer was this: "It 
will endure just so long as the principles of those who founded the coun- 
try abide and are in full play." 

The suggestions, my friends, of an hour like this call us back to the 
essential, deep-souled characteristics of our citizenship. They remind 
us of the good God who has thus far led us on, and of the powerlessness 
of any evil which has tried to hurt us. The men who walked these 
streets in the early days were "Essential Americans." They have been 
followed by their children and their children's children, and the way in 
which you have decorated your homes with the Stars and Stripes in these 
last days is the sign manual that their spirit is still upon you. 

The message of the hour is that the "Essential American" still lives, 



124 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

and that it is your business and mine, with a wholesome optimism, not 
only to believe in him, but to be that citizen ourselves, in order that we 
may understand the deeper and the truer meaning of those fine lines of 
Emerson : 

"United States! the ages plead. — 
Present and Past in under-song, — 
Go put your creed into your deed, 
Nor speak with double tongue. 

For sea and land don't understand. 

Nor skies without a frown 
See rights for which the one hand fights 

By the other cloven down. 

Be just at home; then write your scroll 

Of honor o'er the sea, 
And bid the broad Atlantic roll 

A ferry of the free," 

That is the mission of the "Essential American"; that is the deep 
solid suggestion of this day we so happily celebrate. (Great applause.) 

I!' Chorus, "Union and Liberty," by Tufts College Choir. 

The President. Medford has been a home and birthplace of 
poets. Were I to undertake to name all her natives and citizens who 
have wooed the muse, I should doubtless omit some, and thereby do 
them an injustice, but Maria del Occidente, Lydia Maria Child, both 
natives, and Rev. John Pierpont, a citizen, will come to many minds. 

For today, however, we have not turned to a native or a citizen, but to a 
man descended from one of our oldest and most distinguished famihes, 
nearly related to our historian, the Rev. Charles Brooks, a man whom 
we came within thirteen votes of choosing as our Representative to the 
Fifty-first Congress, who did ably serve Massachusetts and the United 
States as a Representative in the Fifty-second Congress, though Medford 
had been legislated out of the District which elected him. 

The son of Edward Everett, one of Massachusetts' most distinguished 
men, himself also distinguished as statesman, as educator, as orator, as 
preacher, as author and as poet, I present to you our Poet, the Hon. 
William Everett of Quincy. (Applause.) 



LITERARY EXERCISES. I25 

OLD MEDFORD. 
POEM BY HON. WILLIAM EVERETT OF QUINCY. 

And must the breath of rhyme 
Join in the sound of this memorial mirth ? 

'T was to no poet's chime 
That rose the walls that sheltered Medford's birth. 

To thrill our fathers' ears 
Far other strains than verse or song must speak; 

Their children's wails and tears 
For daily bread; the red man's helUsh shriek 
Incessant rang, commanding night and day 

Their hands and hearts engage 
In nobler strife than ever poets' lay 

Bade knights or heroes wage. 

Themselves the poets were; 
Their spades and guns the truest lute and harp, 

From field and wood made stir 
Discords and symphonies now sweet, now sharp, 

Whose plain untutored tale 
Speaks richer music to our hearts this hour. 

Than could the notes avail 
Of Milton's lyre, or Purcell's organ-power; 
What need of pastoral or epic here. 

Each stilted bookman's name? 
Our fathers' call more tuneful to our ear 

Than Greek or Roman fame. 

Fair was the home they chose — 
The grassy ridge, soft sloping to the vale, 

The buttressed mount that rose. 
Their gentle fortress from the western gale; 

Her lakes and brooks, that led 
To glades and groves ht by the western ray. 

The stream, that eastward sped 
Through its gay meadow to the isle-starred bay. 
Like to a queen does Medford hold her seat — 

The hills her crown of pride; 
Her throne the verdant bank, her royal feet 

Kissed by the rippling tide. 



126 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Nor from the land alone 
Sounds the deep anthem of their sober psalm; 

Nor axe nor spade the tone 
Alone affords in cadence grave and calm; 

Theirs was the keener strain 
That rings from whistUng cord and dashing prow; 

The terrors of the main, 
Currents and storms, they bade submissive bow; 
Each forest king that fell beneath their steel, 

Launched on the ocean foam, 
With richest stores returned a victor keel 

To deck its Medford home. 

Yet from those elder days 
So brave in toil, so thoughtless of renown. 

Some forms the bard may raise 
And from their honored titles twine a crown; 

Where Mystic to the main 
Her tribute pours, still fragrant are the slopes 

With memories of the twain. 
The nursing fathers of our infant hopes; 
The friend whose lavish wealth enriched the land 

His eye had never known — 
The pilgrim saint, who led the dauntless band 

That here set Freedom's throne. 



Cradock and Winthrop! where 
With wiser heads did nobler hearts unite ? 

To counsel or to dare 
Still, prudent, fearless still, through dark or bright! 

Long may that dwelling stand 
That on the coast, so strange and yet so dear, 

His never-closing hand 
In earnest of unfaltering love could rear! 
Once borne by Britain's early chief, that praise 

From conquering Rome could claim, 
Let Medford's sons extol to endless days 

Their foster father's name. 



LITERARY EXERCISES. 127 

Winthrop! Let history's call 
Her saints and heroes summon from their grave, 

Let them be marshalled all 
Sturdy or tender, eloquent or brave; 

Be every virtue scrolled 
That States may need to found them deep and sure, 

That age to age unfold 
May see their walls still rise and still endure; 
Strength, wisdom, grace, love, purity and toil. 

Are they not all his own, 
Who by his sacred work on this our soil 

Foreshadowed Washington! 

The tranquil years go by. 
And Medford's children play their quiet parts; 

Till from the cloudless sky 
Bolt after bolt of Revolution starts: 

Then, as from Concord pealed , 

The earhest volley, Medford's son arose. 

Tried in each new-fought field 
Glorious or sad; he broke the embattled foes 
On Saratoga's heights; his faithful guard 

Watched o'er our hero's life. 
Nor purer name than Brooks hath brightly studded 

Our country's natal strife. 

Nor tried alone in war; 
Thrice and again his grateful people pressed 

With shouts around his car 
Their chosen chief, who hailed the nation's guest. 

A brighter halo still 
Floats round his brow; the good physicians' meed, 

That deadlier foes could kill. 
And through a nobler path of triumph lead. 
Let war and peace entwine their choicest crown 

For Medford's favorite son — 
Her homes, her hearts record his best renown 

By care and patience won. 



128 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Nor let one kindly heart, 
Swelling with pride that valor set us free, 

Scorn those who took their part 
With dear Old England's realm beyond the sea! 

His was no churlish soul 
But Royal in its fibre as its line, 

Who, though the knell might toll, 
That bade him yonder stately home resign. 
Paid his stern neighbors good for ill, and spent 

His wealth to teach the law 
Which both so loved, yet by hard conscience rent, 

At such strange variance saw. 

Harsher, yet kindly still. 
Another vision from our fathers' day! 

The preacher, fixed of will, 
Fearless in thought, imperious in his sway. 

With ancient learning stored. 
Rugged of speech, and scorning softer strain, 

His clear "thus saith the Lord" 
Rang in our streets like Moses' tables plain; 
And trembling souls in days of bitter strife, 

That shrank from faction's taunt, 
Took heart as Osgood's trumpet pealed with life 

No age could cool or daunt. 



And in the house of prayer 
Before him seated mark that presence mild, — 

The merchant's brow, that care 
With greed or fraud not for one hour defiled: 

Borne by wealth's fullest breeze. 
He stopped in manhood's prime; and year to year 

His books, his friends, his trees. 
Made to his ever-widening heart more dear. 
List, brothers, list, my grandsire's words, and prize 

Their homely truth to day — 
"No use of money truer satisfies 

Than giving it away." 



LITERARY EXERCISES. 

Yet must one thought be given 
To her, the soaring singer from our fold, 

A fragment, strangely riven, 
Of Eastern ruby set in Western gold, 

Maria, from whose shell 
Breathed the rich fantasies of Orient skies, 

Tamed by the chaster spell 
That in New England's stainless rosebud lies. 
By English lakes, the poet's loved retreat, 

And languid tropic isle, 
Did Medford's daughter hear the Grace's feet, 

And catch the muse's smile. 

Such were the hands, the souls 
That reared the shrine where Medford's altar glows. 

True, tender, wise— her rolls 
No dazzhng sins, no gorgeous crimes disclose. 

These are her poets ; these 
By faithful lives sang her memorial song; 

Borne on remotest seas 
Her name has sounded generous, brave and strong- 
Whene'er our country called, she freely gave 

Her work, her wealth, her blood; 
Not Homer's lyre rolled forth a richer wave 
Than love's unstinted flood. 

And, ere the poet close, 
Shall not one drop of fun be granted him? 

E'en though the cynic nose 
Of righteousness turn up with censure grim 

"Old Medford" is his theme- 
What means "Old Medford" to her exiled sons? 

What dear domestic dream 
In want and wandering through their slumber runs? 
Close to their heart a warming taste of home 

They press, perchance they share: 
And feel, though from their mother far they roam 
Her spirit still is there. ' 

(Laughter and applause.) 



129 



I30 



TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-riFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



The President. And now I ask you to rise and join with the 
chorus in singing the Ode which Mrs. Gleason has written for us; and, 
at its conclusion, to remain standing to receive the Benediction. 

Ode written for the occasion by Annie Hall Gleason. 

COMMEMORATION ODE. 



















"American Hymn." 


fl 1 ' 


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1 




N 1 1 




















































I. Lured 


by Mys -tic's gleam -ing 


wa - 


ters, 


Came our sires, in 


2. Stead 


fast, in the con - se - 


era 


■ tion 


Of their lives to 


3. Death 


less on Fame's sto - ried 


pa - 


ges 


Are their deeds of 


4. Thou, 


whose mer - cy still has 


kept 


us 


In the paths our 


^ . 


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^-r- -ff- 


-"*■— 


-•- 


•f--- 4r ^ t . 


^ — h '4- — t 


—< — t — 




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— ( 


-f — ! 


-r — c — f- — r — ■ 


























1 


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j^=^^^4^^i^^^=ti^ 



days long gone — In their ho - ly zeal, un-daunt - ed, 

this new shore. Bat - tling with the craft - y foe - men, 

val - or rolled. Down the ar - cades of the a - ges 

fa - thers trod. Let Thy might -y arm de-fend us, 

ig, , "f^ — 5^ (s „ g-; ^— g e r-'- : e t' g 



i 



^^=^ 



=5S= 



r 



Gaz - ing forth to free - dom's dawn — Here their stan - dard 

Or in ser - ried ranks of war, Lib • er - ty or 

Still re-sounds their an - them bold,— God and Free-dom! 

Lead - ing on — Al - might - y God I Then ^-ic - to - rious, 



^ 



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gp ^-TTr^x n: 



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proud - ly rear - ing, On these banks, that hal - lowed mom. 

death 1 their watch-word, Lib - er - ty, for - ev - er - more I 

Home and Coun - try I One great Shep - herd, and one fold I 

we will praise Thee, Ev - 'ry voice in glad ac - cord ! 



^ 



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Benediction pronounced by Rev. Henry C. DeLong. 



THE BANQUET. 




cc - < 

< U -I 

LlI LU I 

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THE BANQUET. 

The prominent social event of the celebration of Medford's 275th An- 
niversary was the public banquet given in the Drill Room of the mag- 
nificent Armory Building on Thursday evening, June isth. Covers 
were laid for four hundred and fifty guests, the company assembled 
being representatives of the city's most progressive and public-spirited 
society. 

The members of the committee in charge were Charles H. Loomis. 
J. Mott Hallowell, Edward P. Boynton, WiUiam Leavens, James C. D. 
Clark and Ernest B. Moore. 

An elaborate menu was served by Caterer Dill of Melrose. 

The spacious Drill Room, one hundred and fifty feet in length by 
seventy-five feet in width, presented a superb appearance, the decora- 
tions being conceded to be the finest display of the kind ever seen in Med- 
ford. The committee was fortunate in having the assistance of Mr. 
Charles B. Dunham, chairman of the citizens' committee on decora- 
tions, and the details of his artistic taste, admirable judgment, and origi- 
nal suggestions were finely carried out by Buckman of Boston, who said 
on completion of the work that he had never seen anything more effective 
or attractive. 

The color scheme was red and white. A broad band of red encircled 
the walls, and on this was hung a festoon of laurel. Graceful bunches 
of streamers were suspended from overhead, and bunting covered all 
wood work in the room. A seal of one of the New England States was 
shown over each of the six large windows, and each was crowned with a 
glory of American flags. The seal of the United States was at one end 
of the room, and a large placard, laurel trimmed, bearing the words — 
"1630. Medford. 1905." The city seal was at the opposite end of 
the hall, the accompanying placard reading, "275th Anniversary." 

The results of the decorator's skill were splendidly reinforced and 
augmented by the liberal use of trees and plants which in lavish profu- 
sion were placed at the committee's disposal by Hon. Samuel C. Law- 
rence. Cedar trees cut from his own grounds, and towering palms and 
flowering shrubs from his greenhouses were massed at effective points 
upon the floor, and baskets of ferns and flowers were suspended from 
overhead. Among the greens upon the floor were ten magnificent hy- 
drangea plants in bloom. 



134 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

One end of the hall was curtained by a network of hemlock boughs, 
in which were concealed tiny electric lamps. Festoons of lamps were 
also stretched through the length and width of the room, and when, as the 
evening progressed, the electric current was turned on, the scene was 
indeed hke fairy-land, and brought from the surprised company a burst 
of applause. 

The souvenir menu was an attractive booklet of sixteen pages, con- 
taining the details of the evening's programme, and the following verses 
written for the occasion by Charles H. Loomis of the committee. 

MEDFORD. 

When Winthrop's followers sought a place 
Which should be free to every race. 
They chose in this vast Western space 
Old Medford. 

Where flows the Mystic's winding stream, 
Came sturdy men, with purpose keen 
To found a State; no idle dream, 
Proud Medford. 

With loyal hearts and spirits true, 
Unswervingly their work they do. 
And lofty purposes pursue, 
Brave Medford. 

A hundred years their stories tell, 
What deeds were done, what fates befell 
Thy pioneers, who loved thee well, 
Fair Medford. 

Still swiftly speeds the flight of years, 
A second hundred disappears; 
The crown of honored age appears 
On Medford. 

But old in years, she falters not; 
Her onward march she does not stop, 
And CENTURIES THREE will soon be got 
By Medford. 

On History's page thy record stands, 
Thy name is known in many lands, 
Borne by the ships built by thy hands, 
Past Medford. 



THE BANQUET. I3S 

Two hundred years plus seventy-five 
Thy birthdays number. Live and thrive. 
To gain thee honor may we strive, 
Our Medford. 

A selection of popular melodies was finely rendered by Clark and 
Treet's orchestra. 

His Honor Mayor M. F. Dwyer was President of the evening, and J. 
Mott Hallowell presided as Toastmaster. Mayor Dwyer spoke as 
follows :- 

MAYOR MICHAEL F. DWYER. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends, Neighbors : — 

The formal opening of the celebration of the 275th Anniversary of the 
settlement of our beloved city came this afternoon. Many of you were 
present and enjoyed the literary feast spread before you. Still others 
are here tonight for the purpose of not only tickling the stomach, but 
also pleasing the mind. I have been notified that a light and humorous 
vein is the order tonight, that serious talk is not to be tolerated, as the 
heavy work was done this afternoon. I hardly believe this is altogether 
true. What do you think of a maiden of 275 years getting giddy ? That 
would not do. Seriously, my friends, in behalf of the city, I welcome 
you here tonight and extend to you one and all her heartiest greeting. 
We ask that both citizen and stranger, every one who comes or dwells 
within her confines shall enter into the full spirit of the occasion and 
make this Anniversary a memorable one in our annals. The croakers 
have said the celebration was doomed to failure, that the city would 
not wake up. The enthusiasm of the past few days, the crowds in our 
streets, the almost universal decoration of our business buildings, and 
the earnest desire of every individual citizen to do his best answers this 
malicious charge and speaks well for the public spirit of our people. No 
community has any room to spare for the chronic growler and fault- 
finder. His place is at the rear among the skulkers. He is of no use or 
benefit to himself or others. His only aim in life is to traduce the man 
of action and block the wheels of progress. Pay no attention to him. 
His useless life will find a fitting end. I am not here to criticise, but to 
tell you that we are proud and rightly so of our home city. From the 
farm or plantation of Mathew Cradock, with its few and scattered in- 
habitants, she has grown to the stately city with her 20,000 inhabitants 
you see today. We are proud of her, I say, proud of her history, which 
is without blemish, proud of her past and present citizenship, as patriotic 



136 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

and loyal as any in the land, proud of her schools, her churches, and all 
her public utilities. Medford wants the best and none other will do. 

Go out from our quaint, old-fashioned Square and you will find pretty 
homes, peaceful and happy dwellings, a contented and law-abiding 
people, no criminals, none of the lawless; beautiful scenery in all its 
natural sublimity, yet here and there touched by the art of man; the 
winding, attractive Mystic, which brings health and cleanliness with the 
ebb and flow of its tides; pretty, expansive parks, clean and well kept 
streets, broad boulevards, and all the good things which go to make an 
ideal abode and resting place for tired man. Tell me where you can find 
her superior, aye, her equal. And still more is to come. We shall soon 
see a fine boulevard along the banks of our river, a splendid basin of 
water above our Cradock bridge, always open for pleasure boating and 
canoeing, more and better playgrounds for our children, and a bathing 
place for all in the cool, clean water. 

Stop and think of what the next few years will bring. These improve- 
ments are coming and you will reap the benefit. They will cost money, 
but you cannot get something for nothing. Everything has its value, 
and the price thereof must be paid. But what of our people? Look 
into the clean faces and bright eyes of the young and old you meet on the 
city streets and you need go no further. These are typical of all. We 
are a homogeneous people, who think alike and act ahke. Alien races 
with foreign tongues, speaking a language we do not understand, have 
not yet come among us, though we welcome the good men of all coun- 
tries and from all climes. There is a common tie that binds us all to- 
gether as one family for the welfare of all its members. W|e have a 
wholesome respect for the opinions and beliefs of one another. A uni- 
versal broad-mindedness prevails. There is no room for narrowness- 
The loyalty of our people to the cause of liberty and union has never been 
doubted. They faltered not in 1775, and in 1861 they responded gal- 
lantly to the support of the martyred Lincoln. In 1898, free Cuba found 
a quick response and, should the call come again, we will be ready. The 
influence of our public schools and that grand temple of learning. Tufts 
College, extend everywhere. No expense is spared to make our schools 
pre-eminent and have them hold the high rank they have attained. 

The ring of the old-time shipbuilder's hammer is heard no more 
on the Mystic. We no longer see the ships built on our shores whitening 
with their sails the seas of the world, yet good has followed. Perhaps 
we may find fault with some of those who have gone before because they 
would not allow the hum of the factory and the busy wheels of manu- 




JAMES MOTT HALLOWELL 
TOASTMASTER BANQUET 



ERNEST B. MOORE 
SECRETARY AND TREASURER 



BANQUET COMMITTEE 



CHARLES H. LOOMIS 

CHAIRMAN 

MEMBER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 



WILLIAM LEAVENS 



EDWARD P. BOYNTON 



THE BANQUET. 137 

facturing industries within our borders, but there has been this com- 
pensation: homes have come and a happy people dwell, where some 
decaying industry might exist, soon to take a speedy departure. The 
keen, bright, effective minds that have done and are doing so much to 
keep Massachusetts ever in the front rank of material progress, notwith- 
standing our lack of material advantages, find here a quiet, genial resting 
place where they can renew and reinvigorate the faculties that have 
placed us at the head of the national union. We welcome all good, in- 
dustrious people to come and abide with us. We have all the advan- 
tages man can hope for or ask. Proud of the past, striving ever in the 
present, and with unbounded faith in our future, we welcome you. 

I cannot cease without saying a few words on this 275th Anniversary 
of the influence of our pubhc schools on our city. 

The city of Medford today is governed in all her important positions 
by her sons born, bred and educated here. The office of Mayor, the 
Mayor's Clerk, the City Solicitor, the Chairman of the School Board, 
the Chairman of the Park Board, the City Clerk, and almost all the po- 
sitions in our city, are held by her sons and the graduates of her public 
schools. (Applause.) It argues well for those institutions, for those 
men — especially myself — did not get where they stand tonight without 
fighting with the stranger that came within our gates. 

It now gives me extreme pleasure to introduce to you the most 
finished product of our city schools and of our institutions. City Solicitor 
James Mott Hallowell, who will act as the Toastmaster of the evening. 
(Applause.) 

J. MOTT HALLOWELL, ESQ. 

Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen oj the City of Medford: — 

I thank you, Mr. Mayor, most cordially for your courteous words of 
introduction. 

During the course of this evening's banquet several congratulatory 
telegrams have been received from prominent invited guests. It is both 
my duty and my pleasure to read them to you. 

(The Toastmaster then read a number of facetious, pretended tele- 
grams from public characters.) 

In the year 1630, ladies and gentlemen, our neighbor, the City of 
Somerville, was only a swamp; another neighbor, Maiden, situated at 
our eastern boundary was at that time merely an Indian burying ground; 
Winchester, farther to the north, was merely an empty vacuum; while 
Arlington to the west of us was not yet even an idea. It was at such a 
time and in such siu-roundings that the little town of Medford was settled. 



138 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

There is an ancient legend — although I will not vouch for its accuracy 
— that the land now within the jurisdiction of Medford was in 1630 
owned by an Indian tribe headed by a chieftain known as "Roaring 
Wolf." This chieftain was at first hostile to the whites, but he was 
captured and converted. Rumor says he settled down in Medford and 
changed his name to that of "Boynton." (Laughter.) It is also said 
that his Hneal descendants have Hved here ever since. However it is, 
we have with us tonight an honored member of that ancient and aristo- 
cratic family, who has promised to describe Medford as it was in the 
year 1630. 

I therefore take great pleasure in introducing to you Rev. Dr. Ne- 
h^miah Boynton, the descendant of kings and chieftains, formerly of 
Medford, now of Brooklyn, New York, who will respond to the toast 
"Medford in the Year 1630." (Applause.) 

REV. NEHEMIAH BOYNTON, D.D. 

Mr. Toastmaster, my good Friends: — 

I am sure it is worth a journey from the distant city in which I have 
my residence, to be here this evening and hear these remarkable words 
from "the finished product of our high school.' ' (Laughter.) I do not 
think I have ever heard one whose knowledge of history, and especially 
of genealogy, was so accurate and so profoundly true. While when it 
comes to questions of geography, as to which is on the north, the south, 
the east and the west of this historic town of Medford, I am sure that 
there can be none to compete with the Toastmaster of the evening for 
preferment in that regard. (Laughter.) 

When he was delivering that remarkable statement concerning the 
aristocratic family which I have the honor to represent, I could not help 
thinking of the story of a colored young man who went to visit his girl 
one evening. The girl came down and sat upon her lover's lap at about 
half past seven o'clock— she weighed a couple of hundred pounds — and 
when the hour of eleven struck she turned to her darling and said," Aren't 
you getting tired ?' ' He looked at her for just a moment, and then said: 
"Oh, no, honey; I was tired, but I'se numb now!" (Great laughter.) 
If the meeting lasts as long as is indicated by the number of speakers who 
are to address you, you will have to get both tired and numb. 

The Toastmaster remarked to the different speakers of the evening, 
that nothing was to be said by them concerning the subject of the toast 
to which they were responding. They are to be like the minister of whom 



THE BANQUET. 139 

it was said that if his text had had small pox, the sermon would not have 
been near enough to it to have been exposed to the disease. (Laughter.) 
I remember a story of a man who was taking a lot of prairie schooners 
out to found a new town in the western part of our country. There 
were half a dozen of these prairie schooners filled with useful things. 
While he was marching along with his people he met an Englishman, 
proverbially inquisitive. The Englishman asked him what he had with 
him, and he said, "We have here all that is necessary to found a new 
town. There is nothing that you can see about here which is not to have 
its use." An old gentleman over ninety years of age, with a long white 
beard, trembling footsteps and palsied hand, suddenly hove in sight, 
and the EngUshman said, "That dear old gentleman can certainly be of 
no use to you in founding your new town." "Oh, yes," said the man, 
"he will be. We are going to use him to start our new cemetery." 
(Laughter.) It has occurred to me that if we should need a new ceme- 
tery in Medford we might use the " finished product of our high school" 
to start it with. (Laughter.) 

I am sure that one reason why the first settlers came to Medford in 
1630 was because they made up their minds not to Uve outside of New 
England. I haven't a doubt that every one of them was famihar with 
that clever httle poem, which is always committed to memory by every 
one: — 

"I would rather love one blade of grass 

That grows in one New England town, 

Than drain the whole world in the cup 

Of pleasure, if the heart be still." 

I can readily conceive why they should want to come and settle in Med- 
ford, — with a truant ofiicer hke Henry Moore, and a finished product 
of our public schools like the Toastmaster of the evening, and a banquet 
where the ladies are compensated for their loss so far as the cigars are 
concerned, by being presented with chocolates — both beginning with the 
same letter, you will see. Medford is truly a town out of which no sane, 
sensible man could afford to live. 

The Mayor spoke of the beautiful basin of water that is soon to exist 
in Medford. I do not like to question authority, but I would like to re- 
mind the Mayor that thirty-five years ago that basin was there, and we 
used to go in swimming without any of the impediments which boys are 
compelled to wear in these degenerate days. I believe that one reason 
why the first settlers came to Medford was because that basin was there. 



14© TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

and because it was so handy, and because it gave them so much refresh- 
ment, not only to the outer, but also to the inner man. 

I am not going to say any more about those men who came over here 
in 1630. With one remark I close. Have you ever stopped seriously 
to think that what those men of 1630 brought, and left, has not been con- 
fined to New England ? Have you ever stopped to think that New Eng- 
land is no longer a matter of geography ? The New Englanderhas gone 
to the north and the south and the east and the west. To have been 
born in New England is a blessing ; to have been born in old Medf ord is a 
greater blessing still. But to have seen the influence of the wholesome, 
noble, inspiring New England ideals as they captured the little towns on 
far away prairies, and as they are transformed into the noble cities of 
the interior and of the west, give them their character, give them their 
stability, give them their outlook and their hope, is to see and to realize 
the glorious hope that it may be said of New England as was said of an 
ancient people centuries ago: "Their hne has gone out to all the world,, 
and their words to the ends of the earth." 

"Be it mountain, lake or prairie, 
Be it city strong and fair, 
Be it east or west that his eyes shall rest, 
He sees New England there. 

Be it east or west that his eyes shall rest, 

New England stands the same; 
For God and the right, at the front of the fight, 

Are the men that bear her name. 

For the message of the Master 

She has breathed with every breath; 
And come what will. New England still 

Shall be faithful unto death." 
(Applause.) 

(These verses are quoted from "Mater Fortissima," Phi Beta Kappa 
Poem, Cambridge, June 25, 1903, at the end of "Routine and Ideals," 
by L. B. R. Briggs.) 

The Toastmaster: — I am sure that after that graphic description we 
all of us know precisely what Medf ord looked like in the year 1630. 

In the first hundred years of its existence, the town of Medford grew 
and flourished. I am indebted to our present City Clerk, AUston P. 
Joyce, Esq., for several extracts from the early town records, as follows: 



THE BANQUET. j^j 

" March i6, 1647. Peter Winthrop Brooks put in the public stocks for 
two days; said Brooks having confessed to the offence of combing his 
hair on the Sabbath morning. 

"June 20, 1673. This day week Schoolmaster Rosewell Lawrence 
scalped three Indians. Scalps now on exhibition in Deacon Teele's 
parlor. 

" April, 1692. Town invaded by two families of those ungodly people 
caUed Quakers. Ducked in the Mystic River, imprisoned for seven 
days, ridden out of town on a rail and ordered never to return. P.S. 
Served 'em right." 

But why, ladies and gentlemen, go on reading extracts from the old 
town records, when we have with us ready to talk tonight a well-known 
scholar and student of early Colonial times. The gentlemen I am about 
to mtroduce has only one blemish,— he was not, like Dr. Boynton and 
"the finished product" and the Mayor and the Mayor's Secretarv, born 
m the city of Medford. But, Mr. Mayor, all persons cannot be num- 
bered among the elect, and therefore, ladies and gentlemen of Medford, 
although he is a stranger, I beg of you by your royal welcome to show 
him that Medford can kill the fatted calf for the stranger within its gates 

as well as-as in the case of Dr. Boynton to welcome the return of 

a wayward and a prodigal son. (Laughter.) s-r) 

I take great pleasure therefore in introducing to you Edgar O. Achorn, 
Esq., the well-known student and scholar, who will respond to the toast 
"Medford in the Year 1730." 

EDGAR O. ACHORN, ESQ. 

Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen:— 

When your distinguished fellow townsman, the Attorney General of 
Medford, invited me to respond to this toast of "The City of Medford in 
1730," I was not aware that I was to find myself among a galaxy of 
statesmen, theologians and orators, such as we see at this table. 

It reminds me of an instance that occurred recently in a kindergarten 
school in Chicago. The tgacher suggested that all the children imper- 
sonate some bird and immediately there was a great flapping of mngs and 
the scream of would-be eagles, and so forth. The teacher noticed that a 
httle fellow sittmg over on one side was apparently not taking any part 
m the game, and she stepped over to him and said, "Why don't you join 
in the sport?" The little fellow said, "I'se a rooster, and I'se laying an 
egg. ' I would prefer to play that quiet role on this occasion, but as an 
historian I feel that the chapter-one, at least-of the remarkable his- 



142 TWO BXTNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

tory of Medford which we are producing tonight would be wanting were 
I to keep quiet. 

The first speaker told you a great deal about the history of Medford, 
but he forgot to state the most important fact in regard to the settlement 
of this city. All historians record the fact that Medford was settled by a 
band of adventurers. When you remember that Medford was a seaport 
town, then the word "adventurer" has an added significance. It sug- 
gests buccaneers, and the Spanish Main, and a man who followed the 
sea. And it is not unlikely that in these marshes of Medford those "long, 
rakish craft' ' were concealed, and that upon these prominent headlands 
are today concealed many a hidden treasure. 

Let me say that up to 1 700 — for the first seventy years of its history — 
there was no settled pastor in this city, but in 17 12, when a band of 
Covenanters from Scotland invaded the place, Medford became a God- 
fearing town — with possibly the exception that now and then a mysteri- 
ous voyage of the Mosquito Fleet varied this condition. 

That you may know that the arts and sciences were early cultivated 
here, I will tell you that in 1730 there was a portrait artist settled in this 
town. Over beside the pond an Irish woman lived whose husband died 
leaving her the richest woman in town, and she thought it would be a 
good idea to have a portrait of her husband painted. So she called on 
the artist and told him that she would Hke to have him paint a portrait 
of her husband. "Well," he said, "you send round the old gentleman 
and I will be glad to give liim some sittings." "But," she said, "he is 
dead.' ' "Well, send round all the sun pictures, silhouettes and daguer- 
reotypes you have, and I think I can make a satisfactorj^ picture of 
him." "But," she said, "he never had any of them taken." This 
phased the artist, but he said, " Give me a description of your husband.' ' 
"Very well," the old lady replied, "he had scant hair and bushy eye- 
brows and blue eyes and a retrousse nose, and a prominent chin, and 
Galway whiskers." "Well," said the artist, "you come round in a 
week and I will have a portrait of him." In a week the old lady came 
back and there was the picture. She looked at it and said, "Is that my 
husband?" "Why, yes. Don't you see there is the scant hair and the 
broad forehead and the bushy eyebrows?" "Yes, yes." "And don't 
you see there is the retrousse nose, and the mouth and the prominent 
chin, and the Galway whiskers?" "Yes, yes," cried the widow, "but 
oh, Lord, how he has changed!" (Laughter.) 

It is safe to assume that the hundred years ending with the year of my 
toast, 1730, brought some changes to the sturdy, peculiar town on the 



THE BANQUET. j., 

banks of the Mystic. Probably not so violent or startling as in the case 
of the portrait just spoken of— but changes incident to increase of popu- 
lation, and contact with other growing communities. 

The record of this ancient town, has ever been an honorable one. 
Laws which in these later days sound quaint and sometimes severe, we 
must remember were made in obedience to the opinions then prevalent 
as to public duties and private life. Medford citizens were loyal to State 
and town interests, and bore their share of taxes and other expenses as 
they were levied. The town exercised a watchful care over its young 
people. We find this law recorded: 

"No lover shaU seek the hand of his chosen one, until he has asked 
permission of her parents. Penalty for the first offence, £ five; for the 
second, £ ten ; and for the third, imprisonment.' ' 

One is inclined to wonder if any Medford youth were hardy enough 
to incur the risk of a second and third penalty. Doubtless the fair 
maidens of those early years, like their charming and attractive sisters 
of this present time, were worthy of personal risk in the seeking and very 
likely were at times sought without first asking for parental leave. I 
think we may consider the penalty not excessive, if in exchange for the 
mfliction one could win a Medford bride. (Applause.) 

As we look upon this briUiant and beautiful scene, this magnificent 
Armory Hall, the stately dignity of which has been made so splendid by 
the decorators' art, we can hardly refrain from a mental contrast between 
those earher years and such an occasion as the one we are celebrating 
tonight. The thought which must weave itself through our review of 
the past and present, is this one great, glorious, and ever-to-be-remem- 
bered fact that the patient, loyal, and honorable past has made possible 
and real this magnificent and prosperous present; and it is meet, citizens 
of Medford, that you observe this 275th Anniversary of such an ancient 
and honorable community, pledging again from this dehghtful evening, 
a renewed allegiance to old Medford, and all of the good which she 
represents. (Applause.) 

The ToASTMASTER:-It has been said of the famous Rufus 
Choate, that he was so eloquent and convincing that frequently "Rufus 
was in the habit of convincing Choate, and Choate often convinced 
Rufus.' ' We are fortunate in having with us tonight the Rufus Choate 
of the present generation, as I am sure that if he ever made the attempt, 
Samuel J. could easily convince Elder, and Elder could with equal ease 
convmce Samuel J. I take great pleasure in presenting to you our 
friend and neighbor, Samuel J. Elder,'' Esq., of^Winchester, who will 



144 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

speak on "Medford two hundred years after its settlement, to wit, in the 
year 1830." (Applause.) 

SAMUEL J. ELDER, ESQ. 

Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen: — 

I am sorry both for Rufus and Choate, and I am sorry for you. When 
your Toastmaster wrote me that I might have fifteen minutes and as 
much more as I wanted, I told him that if the crowd could stand me for 
fifteen minutes I could stand them equally as long, and I would en- 
deavor to come loaded with trouble for at least that length of time. 

Your presiding officer sent me word not to be serious, and your Mayor 
reiterated the suggestion. Of course I knew how much I needed it — 
they were guarding me against my besetting sin. But I have now 
learned that it was for a different reason, — he and the Mayor and Dr. 
Boynton wanted to have a monopoly of all the seriousness that there was 
to be here tonight, and to give us nothing but absolutely solid facts, seri- 
ous considerations of all the things that there were going on. It is a 
good deal Hke that little child that was crying outside the house, and the 
dear old uncle said to it, "What are you crying about?" The child 
sobbed out: "I don't want Willie to kill that beetle." "Bless your 
tender heart," said the uncle. "It aint that — I want to kill him my- 
self." (Laughter.) 

I had some little misgivings myself, with regard to the object of my 
invitation. There was a time in that eloquent career to which your 
presiding officer has done such tardy justice, that I believe I was en- 
gaged in some effort to segregate the town. I didn't know but he was 
going to get even with me for it. I didn't know, when I was up here, 
cut off from all escape in any direction, but what my days were num- 
bered. I remember at that time how I pictured, or sought to, the dis- 
sentions in this old town of Medford — honestly, candidly, seriously, Mr. 
Toastmaster. 

But that is all a matter of the past. I see about me a very contented, 
and, as the Mayor tells us, homogeneous family, scattered around him 
and scattered around the city government. Kipling's tribute to "The 
Native Born" could not have been more eloquently expressed if it had 
been addressed to Medford. I was disturbed, as Dr. Boynton was, 
when I began to think of the number of speakers tonight. I figured out 
how near harvesting it would be before we got through — and wondered 
what would be the harvest. It seemed to me that brother McCall and 
I might be late in getting home. 



THE BANQUET. I45 

There was a lawyer years ago down in Connecticut who was poor, 
as lawyers always are, and he had a horse, very old, very decrepit, and 
which got about with the greatest difficulty. The hired man was always 
complaining about old Jerry ; he could not get anywhere with him on time. 
When he started for the train he missed it, and they were late to church. 
Ever)' team on the road passed them. Old Jerry was no good. One 
day the mistress said to the hired man : "You take old Jerry and go over 
to Farmer Henshaw's place to the funeral." The man said: "Well, 
ma'am, if I was after going over to Farmer Henshaw's to the funeral, 
would I take some of the mourners or would I take the corpse ?" " Oh, 
of course, you would take some of the mourners. They will have a hearse 
to take the corpse." "Well," said he, "it is well you don't want me to 
take the corpse, for I wouldn't be there in time for the resurrection. ' ' 
(Laughter.) 

Now as to the year 1830. Mr. Webster delivered his great reply to 
Hayne in that year. It was the beginning of the enormous movement 
of the population toward the West. It was the beginning of that long 
thirty years' struggle that ended human slavery in this country. It was 
the year in which the first railroad was built and operated in the United 
States. It was the year that signalized that great movement which 
bound with steel and iron this Republic together, and made possible the 
complete union of the States. It was that year in which Medford reached 
a high degree of prosperity in the ship-building line, and when, as has 
been said, its sails whitened every sea and its seamen were found in every 
clime. 

It is to the credit of the city which follows on after the town, that it has 
inherited and kept to their full strength the courage and the virtues of 
the fathers. And it is to your credit, sir, and the credit of the govern- 
ment over which you preside, and to the credit of your citizens, that you 
are remembering today the years that are past, and remembering that 
the true glory of every community is to face its history and be proud of 
it. (Applause.) 

The Toastmaster: — The following seventy-five years from the 
year 1830 to the present tim.e, 1905, can be quickly passed by. The 
town of Medford grew and flourished, but it had its misfortunes also. 
For instance, in the year 1892 the city charter and the gypsy moth first 
became prevalent. In that same year was held the first municipal elec- 
tion; and also about that time we began to make our first impression 
upon national legislation. We selected our man, sent him to the legis- 
lature and afterwards to the halls of Congress, where he now is, and 



146 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

where, if Medford has its way he will remain until he is promoted to 
higher honors. (Applause.) I might say, using the word in a certain 
sense, that he is a great athlete, for in the national Capitol he is the only 
man who can last through twenty rounds with our President and then, 
come up smiUng for the twenty-first. I know that he is a great student, 
because he studies us with the greatest regularity once every two years. 
He is therefore well quahfied to describe Medford as it is at the present 
time. It is therefore with much pleasure that I present to you Hon. 
Samuel W. McCall of Winchester, who will respond to the toast "Med- 
ford in the year 1905." (Applause.) 

HON. SAMUEL W. MC CALL. 

Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen 0} Medford: — 

I esteem it a great honor that the town in which I live although it has 
been called a vacuum has such a large delegation to represent it here 
tonight, and I have concluded that you will agree with me when I say 
that we are perhaps the most important suburb of Medford. I am a 
little bit suspicious, however, of the honor that has been thrust upon our 
town, because Medford is inhabited by a race of ImperiaHsts. Medford 
today is two or three times as large as it was in 1630, and it has constantly 
been spreading out in the direction of Winchester. 

Another fact leads me to fear that something may happen. Some 
time ago it was the fashion to divide towns whenever petition was made 
to the legislature, and so some very good people of Medford concluded 
that they would set up as a separate community, and they made an ap- 
pUcation to the legislature. That was almost the first instance in which 
the divisionists failed of their purpose, and the result was so signal that 
there has hardly been a division of a town in Massachusetts from that 
time to this. 

There is this to console us in Winchester, that while we cannot belong 
to this charmed and select circle who have the honor of having been born 
in the city of Medford — that circle alluded to by your mayor, the next 
greatest honor would be to be incorporated as a ward of the town by an 
act of the legislature. 

I have felt a thrill of pride in having a town hke Medford in my con- 
gressional district. The first Congress of which I was a member was 
Democratic. At that time somebody had an idea it would be a good 
idea to get some money from the government to improve one of our 
rivers. This river had a noble history and beautiful scenery, but not 
much water. I went before the committee on rivers and harbors, but 



THE BANQUET. I47 

I didn't make much impression, and was received with great coldness. 
I finally said this river was vital to Medford, and one of the Southern 
gentlemen pricked up his ears, and said, "What is that. Old Medford?" 
I said it was. They asked me what I wanted, and I said about $10,000. 
They gave me the ten thousand. I have often wondered what changed 
the atmosphere so suddenly, and I have always been sorry I didn't ask 
for $20,000, because I feel very certain that I would have got it. 

I am glad to be here tonight and to join with you on this occasion in 
the celebration of your two hundred and seventy-fifth Anniversary. I 
think one strong point in the history of Medford has been its civic pride, 
which was very properly shown by your chief executive in his alluding 
to the "finished product" of your schools, and also to the fact that your 
town has in positions of responsibihty so many of its native-born boys. 
I think this hall in which you sit is an evidence of civic pride that one 
would have to travel a long way to find equalled in any part of the United 
States (Applause), a hall that is useful both for war and for peace, but 
that never, I believe, will be devoted to a purpose more beautiful or 
more essentially patriotic than the purpose to which it is devoted tonight. 
(Applause.) 

The Toastmaster: — And now, ladies and gentlemen, let us for 
a few moments look solemnly and seriously ahead into the future. 
What will Medford be a century from now, one hundred years from the 
present time ? Will it be, as it is now, one of the units in a mighty and a 
world-powerful republic, or will that republic have followed the steps 
of its Roman predecessor and be numbered among the wrecks and the 
failures of the past? 

We have with us this evening a gentleman whose name is known from 
the Pacific to the Atlantic, and who by his calling and his learning is as 
well qualified as any man Uving to look ahead into the future and de- 
scribe Medford 100 years from now, in the year 2005. And for that 
purpose I take the greatest pleasure in introducing to you Dean Hodges 
of the Episcopal Theological School of Cambridge. (Applause.) 

DEAN GEORGE HODGES. 

Mr. Toastmaster, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen: — 

As a serious-minded person I have been a little lonesome during these 
speeches. I didn't expect much from the lawyers, but I was amazed at 
Dr. Boynton's behavior, which T thought scandalous in the extreme. 
(Laughter.) 



148 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

I ought to begin with confessing that the subject which the toastmaster 
has given me is one with which I am somewhat unfamiliar, and with 
which I have a somewhat imperfect acquaintance. But I will venture 
at least the prediction that the citizens of Medford in 2005 will be a great 
improvement over this present company. (Laughter.) I am glad that 
you have the grace to applaud that remark. It was not meant to be 
uncomplimentary. We are all interested in human progress. I don't 
care much for the material Medford in the year 2005. We can only 
guess what that will be from the automobile and the flying machine, 
and those, I fancy, will be remote discoveries in that century. I heard 
the other day of a poor lady who was taken sick in a public place. 
Somebody said "Get Dr. B., he has an automobile." "No," she said, 
recovering slightly, "I don't want an automobile doctor, I want a 
horse doctor." (Laughter.) Probably the material Medford of the 
year 2005 will be quite beyond both horse doctors and automobile doc- 
tors. The material Medford of that century will depend upon forces 
which are at present beyond our apprehension ; the place will be trans- 
formed so that our descendants will look back to this time as queer 
and quaint and semi-civilized. 

I foresee, however, in that new Medford of the year 2005 a more noble, 
civic life, and by that I mean, such a sense of social responsibility on the 
part of all those who are engaged in the administration of the place that 
no man shall hold his position from any sense of personal return, but 
shall be devoted entirely to the upbuilding of the community. 

One may prophesy from the Medford of today a Medford of the year 
2005, whose civic life will be so far beyond that which we know today 
that we can scarcely imagine it. I mean not simply the civic life as it is 
concerned in the administration of the town, but in the beauty of the 
place. 

We have here a very beautiful private life; that is to say, our streets 
are lined with beautiful houses in the midst of delightful grounds. But 
we are only beginning to have a fine and noble and worthy public life. 
You have fine public buildings here in Medford, but the public buildings 
of Medford or any other place today are poor in comparison with the 
residences of the citizens. The Medford of 2005 will be a place where 
the squares and parks will be greatly multiplied, where there will be 
pictures and flowers and lectures and all manner of things which will 
make the residence of the people of Medford a delight and a privilege. 

I suppose that after all is said about the happiness and privilege of 
living in Medford, it does not touch a lot of people in this town who are 



THE BANQUET. 149 

not living at all in the Medford of which you think. I remember one 
day finding in the preacher's room in Appleton Chapel where the uni- 
versity preacher goes to put on his gown before he goes in to preach, a 
closet with a paper label on it. I went up and looked at the label and 
found that it read: "Appleton chappie close press." In the heart of 
Harvard College, in the very centre of intellectual privilege, there was a 
man whom it had not touched. What I mean by a finer civic life, is a 
time when the privilege and opportunity of the city shall touch every 
citizen within its borders. Professor Shaler told me of being in a train 
and talking to a man who asked him where he came from. The pro- 
fessor said, "I come from Cambridge." "Ah," said the man, "that 
is where they kill so many hogs." (Laughter.) That was the only as- 
sociation he had with the place. He did not live in the Cambridge of 
which people think. 

I foresee also in the Medford of the year 2005 a larger spirit of religion. 
I beheve there will be fewer churches in proportion to the population, 
because that is a very true saying of some one that the number of steeples 
in a town indicates not the piety but the pig-headedness of the population. 
(Laughter.) It is the result of a curious endeavor to keep as many people 
as possible out of the churches, whereas in the year 2005 our descendants 
will try to get them in. 

Those churches, few in number in comparison with the population, 
will nevertheless be greater in influence because the church will consider 
not simply the parish to which it ministers but the interests of the whole 
town. There is not a community in the land today in which the Christian 
church, or any other church, has adequately appreciated its mission to 
the entire place. Not for the purpose of ministering to a certain little 
company of people does the church exist, but to be a force in the upbuild- 
ing and the uplifting of the entire Hfe of the community. 

I have still another prophecy, — not only will the Medford of the next 
century be the place of a nobler civic life ; not only will it be a place of a 
larger conception of religion, but it will be a place in which there will be a 
great increase in appreciative public spirit. I sympathize greatly with 
the remarks which the mayor made at the opening, when he spoke of 
the citizens who simply stand aside and criticise, but take no part, even 
by ballot, in promoting the good of the town. I remember an inscrip- 
tion in Copp's Hill burying ground "He was an enemy to enthusiasm. 
Thank heaven he's dead, any way!" (Laughter.) In the year 2005 
all the people who are now of his way of thinking, who are complainers 
rather than appreciators, will be dead also — hke the rest of us. 



150 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

A town needs enthusiasm, it needs appreciation, it needs affection and 
civic pride in order to make it grow. You look back over history and 
see the cities that have made great names for themselves; they have all 
been cities that have drawn to themselves the hearts of their people. 
The most signal example of such a city is Jerusalem, whose people when 
they came to anticipate the future and to consider the possibilities of 
heaven, could conceive of it in no higher way than to say that it would 
be a new Jerusalem. 

I hope that in the year 2005 the new Medford will seem a fair symbol 
to its inhabitants of the city of everlasting perfection. (Applause.) 

The Toastmaster: — The Rev. Dr. Frederick W. Hamilton, 
Acting-President of Tufts College is well qualified to reply to the toast, 
"The Ladies," and for that purpose I present him to you. 

rev. FREDERICK W. HAMILTON, D.D. 

Mr. President and Friends: — 

So far as appears from the evidence now before the court, I am the 
only speaker who was not told to avoid his subject. I am also the only 
speaker who, so far as I am able to ascertain, was not told he could have 
fifteen minutes. I am given only ten mimutes. Now, if the toast- 
master supposes that justices can be done to the ladies of Medford in 
ten minutes, they have changed since I was an undergraduate in Tufts 
College. (Applause.) 

As I see this distinguished company before me, see the lawyers with 
the evidences of the proverbial poverty of their profession, see the poH- 
ticians, and hear the speeches, I am reminded of a story I heard told of a 
lawyer friend of mine. He was sitting in his oflSce one day, and a friend 
came in and observed that he had a very large diamond in his shirt-front, 
a large, briUiant stone. The friend looked at it in admiration for a 
moment, and then said, "Well, I guess you have struck luck.' ' "Well,' ' 
he said, "you know I was appointed executor of the estate of Squire 
Brown. The will provided that after the debts of the estate had been 
paid and proper and necessary arrangements made, a sum which the 
executor might consider appropriate should be set aside for a suitable 
stone. This is the stone." (Laughter.) 

I suppose that I was asked to come down here and show myself — 
indeed, the toastmaster said so in writing to me — because I happen just 
at the moment to be temporary head of the co-educational institution 
called Tufts College. Certainly it would not be proper in these days 
when women are taking the place in the world and in the estimation of 



THE BANQUET. 1$! 

the republic which they ought to take, to let an occasion of this sort with 
its historic interest pass without some word of tribute, not only for the 
men of 1630, but for the women of those days. For I am sure that while 
histories say comparatively little about it, we have only to think a bit to 
see how much all our communities owe to the women. 

I would ask you for a few moments to reconstruct in your minds the 
conditions of Ufe in these New England settlements in the early days; 
the absolute necessity that was upon these communities to provide for 
their needs. Why, we could have a flourishing community, so far as 
the comforts of life are concerned today, on a desert island. If we want 
anything from the farthest corners of the earth, we have only to make a 
few taps on a key and wait a little while, and the thing comes to us. But 
things were quite different in the early days on this continent. There 
was laid upon the women then not only the duty of rearing the children 
who would be the substance of the State to come, but also a thousand 
duties of which they are now relieved. The making of the cloth out of 
which the clothes were to be cut, for example, was done in our homes. 
To the quiet devotion of the women we owe more, I think, than the his- 
tory books tell us, or than we ourselves often stop to think. So in all 
the important crises through which our land and our town have passed 
while the men went forth to die at Valley Forge, or in the Southland, 
the patriotism and the devotion of the women at home have been their 
support and inspiration. 

It is one of the most beautiful and touching of all the beautiful things 
in the New Testament story of our Lord, that there were certain women 
who followed with the company and ministered unto Him. That has 
always been the part of the women, — to follow with the company and 
minister to the men. When the minutemen were summoned, and the 
old musket was taken down and the powder horn slung over the shoulder, 
and men went out to endure the hardships of battle, I do not think they 
would have had the courage to do so had it not been for the women. 
They stayed at home and tilled the fields if it was necessary to do so, in 
order that the men should have a home to which to return after their 
toil. 

You have been told today how many more schoolmarms there are in 
Medford than there are poUcemen, and I am sure that the work of the 
schoolmarm is quite as important as any work which fills a larger part 
in the pages of the world's history. It is work which must be done; it 
is work upon which the foundations of our national life and prosperity 
are laid. 



152 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Now, I am not making a plea for woman's suffrage. I suppose that 
is absolutely certain to come when the time is ripe for it, just as all good 
things come when the time is ripe. But I am trying to remind you that 
there are some of us of the sterner sex who believe that women are good 
for something more than to eat chocolates, and that the service they have 
rendered to their country is not second to that of men, that it is a service 
which cannot be over-praised or over-appreciated. 

I am glad to have had a word of appreciation for what the women of 
Medford have done for two hundred and seventy-five years, and what 
the women will do to bring in that good time of which Dean Hodges has 
so eloquently prophesied. (Applause.) 

The Toastmaster: — An enemy of Medford once said: "Medford 
has a population of 20,000 people; 19,000 are Republicans, 994 don't 
vote, and six are Democrats." 

The Hon. WiUiam Gushing Wait has the honor of being the leader 
of this versatile and independent band of six, and he will respond to the 
toast and tell you "What it feels hke in the city of Medford to be a 
Democrat." (Applause.) 

HON. WILLIAM GUSHING WAIT. 

My Friends: — 

It does not feel so very different from the way in which you all feel, 
for I think I can truly say of almost all the men that I see before me that 
at some time they have been Democrats, and that some of them are 
Democrats today — though they do not know it. 

If you are a Democrat and call yourself so, there are certain feelings 
which you have; if you are a Democrat and call yourself a Republican 
then you have certain other feelings. For instance, if you are one of the 
kind of Democrats who try to serve the people in any way that you can, 
they will make you an alderman and they will let you do all the work, 
and they will allow you to be a school committee man, and they will 
make you a commissioner of the sinking fund, but they will never send 
you to the legislature nor make you mayor. Well, now, on the other 
hand, if you are a Democrat and call yourself a Republican, I don't say 
that those other things will be added unto you, but simply that they 
might be — you cannot tell. 

I think that, under such circumstances, to be a Democrat and to feel 
like a Democrat is to feel as you would if by some unexpected and fortu- 
nate chance you found yourself in heaven. (Applause.) Particularly 
in Medford! You would feel that you were delighted with your sur- 




5 °= 

c/) p 



THE BANQUET. I53 

roundings, but you would wonder a good deal how you happened to be 
there, and you would be filled with amazement at how the others that 
you met had managed to pass the watchful Peter. 

That would make you chuckle ; and I must say that to be a Democrat 
in Medford has that effect upon me. (Applause.) 

The Toastmaster: — The Hon. WilHam B. Lawrence needs no 
introduction to a Medford audience. He has served his city well, both 
in the House and in the Massachusetts Senate. He will speak this even- 
ing on a subject upon which he is an expert, "The Gypsy Moth." (Ap- 
plause.) 

HON. WILLIAM B. LAWRENCE. 

The Gypsy Moth is not an enchanting subject from any point of view. 
He has approached Medford too often, to our embarrassment and trepi- 
dation. To do justice to a subject hke the Gypsy Moth, which has been 
assigned to me, requires a vocabulary for which the English language is 
too limited. Only the Spanish language can do it justice ; for in Spanish, 
you know, there are two hundred diflferent words with which to express 
those feehngs which in EngUsh are set forth with a big, big "D", and a 
dash ; and you certainly would need all of those words to do justice to the 
subject of the Gypsy Moth. (Laughter.) 

What, indeed, has the Gypsy Moth ever done for Medford that today 
we should be asked to commemorate his memory ? Why on this historic 
occasion should we look upon the Gypsy Moth as an example to guide 
our steps aright in the paths of virtue ? 

"In the good old Colony times, when,' ' as the old ditty runs, "we lived 
under a King,' ' did the rude forefathers of our republic ever encounter 
in the wilderness the perils of the gypsy moth ? (Laughter.) 

Did the pioneers, the hunters and trappers, the men with the rifle and 
the axe, the blazers of clearings, the Indian hunters, the builders of Colony 
and of State, those "stern men with Empires in their brains" ever while 
chopping down trees in the wilderness encounter that potent and opulent 
glutton, the g)^sy moth ? Could they have chopped down trees while 
the gypsy moth and his cousin the brown tail moth were crawhng down 
their backs inside of their shirt collars to thrill and enhven their weary 
way ? (Laughter.) 

New England is said to be the great mother of men. The proof that 
the New Englanders of today have not degenerated physically is clearly 
shown by their enduring with patience and suppressed profanity, life 



154 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

amid gypsy and brown tail moths. No petty race could have survived 
their stalwart ravages. 

What is the lesson taught by the gypsy moth, examined from his own 
standpoint ? for much depends on the point of view, as the countryman 
said after being kicked by the hind leg of the mule. In the first place 
the gypsy moth conferred upon the people of the United States a new 
sensation, and even now we are trying to recover from the emotion ex- 
cited by his presence. (Laughter.) 

As a guide for our future life and conduct, we should remember that 
the gypsy moth does not worry. He lets the other fellow do the worrying. 
He never takes a gloomy view of life. In the efifervescence of youth he 
enjoys with enthusiasm his quiet but extraordinary conquest of the vege- 
table kingdom. 

There is something attractive in the picture of his tranquil existence. 
He is an example of sedateness in life, of slow eating and deliberate en- 
joyment. He has taste, and plenty of it; and yet he has a certain robust 
delight in feeding. He sticks to a diet. He eats what he likes and lots 
of it. He eats early and often. (Laughter.) 

He is methodical, and regular as clock-work in his habits. He eats 
regularly, that is, during breakfast and luncheon; during afternoon tea, 
dinner and supper; and he never stops between meals. Nothing is too 
rich for his blood. He takes in all the vegetable kingdom in his all em- 
bracing maw. What, indeed, is his preservative ? Why, he thrives on 
"Old Medford," and is sound as a bell. (Laughter.) 

He abounds in strength, health and robust vigor. He is able to stand 
much work and much pleasure. He is too full of health and life to rust 
out. He keeps his health of body by attending to his own business with 
the utmost assiduity. He is not afraid he will do too much. He has 
great capacity for work. His active spirit chafes in mere indolence. 
He goes to work with all his powers and faculties, and in his work 
forgets himself. He is not of a morbid temperament. (Laughter.) 
He has something to live for. He utilizes his opportunities and makes 
use of all the capacity for work within him. He enjoys a varied em- 
ployment, has an extended range of observation, and plenty of amuse- 
ment , — for himself. It is his disposition always to seek new activities 
and varied occupations. He devises new pursuits and diversifies his 
industries. 

He never sacrifices the present for the future. He has established a 
permanent position for himself. He surmounts all obstacles. With 
indulgent pity he views the puny efforts of man to exterminate him. 
(Laughter.) 



THE BANQUET. 155 

He is courageous and self-reliant. Nothing has yet weakened his 
self-dependence. He does not rely on the government for support. 
With calm, unfaltering gaze he surveys most things in heaven and on 
earth, and browses on a large part of Middlesex county. (Laughter.) 

He does not complain that he is overworked ; and certainly some of our 
citizens do not seem to want to drive him out of employment altogether, 
although this year his voracity seems superior to that of former genera- 
tions. His advancement, in every field, is conspicuous and indispu- 
table. Success has attended him. Nevertheless, in the hour of his tri- 
umph and achievements life to him is as placid as Mystic River, and as 
agreeable as a mint julep to a Kentuckian. (Laughter.) 

He is never troubled with dislocation of the jaw, any more than is a 
PopuHst orator. He is strong in the faith, — in himself and his powers. 
He is charitable, — to himself. He has nothing to give up. 

The gypsy moth is certainly a social character. He will sit down with 
you and stay all day. If you are satisfied, all right. If you are not, 
so much the worse for you ; it will not trouble him any. He has no vault- 
ing social ambition. He visits in all sorts of out-of-the-way places. No 
place is too high or too low to escape his notice, or his social instincts, 
from early dawn to dewy eve, — and later yet. (Laughter.) 

But attention to social duties is not the only work of which he is cap- 
able. The range of his activity, interest and ambition is certainly larger 
and broader every year. Domestic malice or foreign envy of his all- 
conquering grandeur do not touch him. He may yet survive, with un- 
diminished pride and power, to pester your children's children in robust 
and unfeigned deUght. (Laughter.) 

The gypsy moth was the companion of my youth ; far I went to the 
Boston Latin School with the son of the man who first introduced the 
gypsy moth into East Medford. In middle age I find the gypsy moth 
still flourishing around the green bay trees; and, if I live to attain lon- 
gevity, I may yet see the gypsy moth crawling up the staff of my old age. 
(Laughter.) 

Outside of this gypsy and brown tail moth district the vast majority 
of the people of this country are, we are told, in a happier, healthier, 
safer and more prosperous condition than ever before in the history of 
our country, and than any other people in the world; the country is 
united and peaceful, and more powerful in the world than ever before; 
and the promise of a long continuance of this prosperity is brighter than 
in any past period. But within the gypsy moth district what a situation 
exists! When these formidable battlement walls were built, alas, how 



156 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

little was it realized that they might soon, perhaps, be needed as a refuge 
in time of trouble from the brown tail and gypsy moths! (Laughter.) 

In this, the two hundred and seventy-fifth Anniversary of the founding 
of Medford, we are still in the infancy of the second century of the re- 
public, and we are now undergoing our tribulations with the gypsy 
moths just as children in infancy pass through the ordeals of teething, 
chicken pox, mumps and measles. Our only protection will be to organ- 
ize a society for the prevention of cruelty from the gypsy moth. There 
is something attractive in the picture of an uneventful life when we shall 
again be without the gypsy moth. May we all live to hail that happy 
day! 

But, Mr. Toastmaster, on being called upon to respond on so formi- 
dable a subject as the gypsy moth, in the absence of that veteran gypsy 
moth fighter, the first Mayor of Medford, I find myself in a situation 
similar to that of the after-dinner speaker in New York who was called 
upon to respond to the toast of the volunteer soldier. He depicted in 
glowing terms the excitement which attended the departure of the vol- 
unteer soldier for the scene of war, the pathetic parting from sweethearts^ 
mothers, sisters, wives and daughters, the bayonets ghstening in the sun- 
hght, the old flag floating gaily in the breeze, the martial roll of the drum 
as the troops proudly marched away, the fierce struggle on the field of 
battle, and finally the hero's death. He worked his audience up to a 
high pitch of enthusiasm ; in conclusion, in describing his lonely grave, he 
said, "The sod rests Hghtly above him, and the long grass gently kissed 
by the zephyrs of evening waves in requiem above his grave. Gentle- 
men," said he, "let it wave; I don't want any of it waving over me yet a 
while." (Laughter.) 

So on this occasion, if any gentlemen here present this evening think 
you ought to be enlightened further on the subject of the gypsy moth by a 
speech bright with the glittering gems of thought and glowing with poetic 
fancy, now is the chance for him to attempt to do ample justice to the 
subject ; I certainly do not desire to attempt anything of the kind. (Laugh- 
ter and applause.) 

The Toastmaster: — Mr. David H. Brown is the chairman of 
the committee which has had this celebration in charge. I hope we can 
have a few words from Mr. Brown, chairman of the executive committee 
and president of the Medford Historical Society. 



THE BANQUET. 157 

MR. DAVID H. BROWN. 

Mr. Toastmaster and Ladies and Gentlemen: — 

I congratulate the banquet committee on the great success of the even- 
ing. The decorations are beautiful, the music excellent, and the menu 
all that could be desired. We have distinguished guests present and 
some of the most interesting people of Medford. 

The exercises of the afternoon at the Opera House and the speeches 
this evening have been of much interest. This is, however, only the 
beginning. For four days the old town is to keep open house. The 
latch string hangs out. An invitation has gone out to all of Medford's 
absent sons and daughters to return and greet old friends and visit the 
places once familiar to them. 

They will find many changes and some improvements. Several new 
and fine church edifices have been erected. The old wooden school- 
houses have taken second place, and five large, solid brick ones have 
been erected and come into use. The most of the old historic houses 
remain. Tablets mark their location and other landmarks. Our visit- 
ors will look in vain for Ship street. That has disappeared Uke the 
ship yards that once lined its borders. Its new name Riverside avenue 
means nothing to Medford citizens of the last generation. They will 
appreciate the improved transportation facihties, especially the excel- 
lent service given by the street cars. As they look over the old town they 
will be more than ever impressed with the beauty of the landscape and 
the rugged and picturesque beauty of the Middlesex Fells, known in 
former times as the five-mile woods. 

Among the new organizations is the Medford Historical Society. In 
the nine years of its existence excellent work has been done. The first 
movement to celebrate the 275th Anniversary of Medford started in the 
Historical Society over a year ago. Had it been in existence twenty-five 
years ago I am sure the quarter millennial anniversary of the town would 
have been celebrated. 

In the work of the Medford Historical Society, we have endeavored 
to make a study of the different periods of Medford history, its old houses, 
roads, bridges, churches, schools and men and women. We have tried 
to find out how they Hved and what they did in Colonial and later times. 
In doing this we have upset some of the traditions that have been handed 
down from generation to generation. We have followed the scientific 
method of getting the facts from authentic sources and then drawing 
conclusions. The papers contained in the published volumes of the 



158 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Register illustrate this. We shall always read Brooks' excellent history 
of Medford with much interest; but it has the characteristics and the 
faults of those compiled fifty years ago when too much dependence was 
placed on tradition and too little on the records. The Rev. Charles 
Brooks, the author of the History of Medford, will be known more as an 
educator than as a preacher or historian. 

To him belongs the distinguished honor of having first suggested the 
organization of normal schools in this country. While travelhng in 
Prussia he became impressed with the importance of special training to 
prepare for teaching in the public schools. On his return to America, 
he became a strong advocate of the establishment of normal schools in 
Massachusetts, doing a large amount of missionary work. WTien Horace 
Mann and others took it up, he relinquished the task, but he was the 
pioneer, doing heroic service in that important educational work. 

In all he did, Mr. Brooks was loyal to his native town. May all of 
us who are citizens of the town imitate his example and do all in our 
power to promote the prosperity and success of Medford. (Applause.) 

The Toastmaster: — I regret to say that the Hon. Charles S. 
Baxter, ex-mayor of this city, is unavoidably prevented from being pres- 
ent tonight. We therefore proceed to the last speaker of the evening. 

Before leaving for our homes tonight, I think it well for us to have a 
httle serious introspective thought. We have been talking jocosely 
about the past and about what we think of other people, and about the 
gypsy moth, but up to the present time we have said nothing about what 
we think of ourselves. 

We have with us in Medford a gentleman who has been here for some 
years and who is well qualified to speak upon that subject. I take very 
much pleasvure in presenting to you the Rev. Maurice A. Levy, who 
will respond to the toast: "What we think of ourselves." (Applause.) 

REV. MAURICE A. LEVY. 

Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen: — 

We are 275 years old and not afraid of a lookingglass. A few words 
have been said about the communities by which we are surrounded, 
and that reminded me of a story somewhat cosmopolitan in character. 
We are told that representatives of three nationalities happened to meet, 
— Briton, German, and the ever present Irishman. The German asked 
the Briton, "If you were not a Briton what would you rather be.^" and 
that gentleman replied, "I would rather be a German." The Briton 



THE BANQUET. 159 

reciprocated by inquiring of the German, "If you were not a German 
what would you rather be?" and the German replied, "In that case I 
would rather be an Enghshman.' ' Whereupon both turned to Patrick 
with the inquiry, "If you were not an Irishman what would you rather 
be?" And Patrick, without a moment's hesitation, rephed, "If I were 
not an Irishman I would be a — shamed." (Laughter.) 

I somehow feel as we come together on this 275th Anniversary, that 
I have no reason to blush, because I am not a son of old Medford: 

"Breathes there a man with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself hath said. 
This is my own, my native land!" 

Do you know that local pride and national patriotism are in the last 
analysis cut out of the same cloth ? We are proud of what Medford has 
been in days gone by. We are proud, some of us, that we were bom 
here. We are proud, the rest of us, that we have become her sons and 
daughters. 

I do not feel that this is a time for any lengthy seriousness, and yet I 
cannot but call attention to the noble past which has been the lot of our 
community, and remind you that from the beginning her sons and daugh- 
ters have been in the very van of all that meant progress toward the best 
in human achievement. In times of war the sons of Medford have gone 
forward to fight. In one century they battled in order that a new banner 
might be unfurled in the eyes of all the world ; in another century they 
volunteered in order that the stars and stripes might be brought back 
without a single star found missing. In every generation the sons of 
Medford have been true to their flag, as true as true could be. 

Moreover, in the times of peace we find that the sons of Medford have 
never been found wanting. They have occupied every station in life, 
and that with honor. They have taken their places in the seats of the 
mighty, and wherever they have gone it has been so to conduct them- 
selves as to commend the choice of those who summoned them to high 
oflSce. We have no need to blush for anything that Medford men have 
been or done in the last two centuries and three-quarters. 

Just as the keels in days gone by slid down the ways on yonder river 
bank, and later ploughed the waters of every ocean in the world and 
visited the ports of every nation, so have the sons and daughters gone 
forth from old Medford, the community whose Anniversary we celebrate 
this week, not only to bless themselves but also to scatter the blessings 



l6o TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness wherever God might lead 
them. 

It is because of what Medford has been, and because of what her 
children have achieved, that I somehow feel we have a right to look upon 
ourselves as a kind of superior race. Mark you, I do not say ' ' supreme ' ' 
but "superior" — and there is a distinction. Even if we did claim to be 
supreme, I am confident that some of these delegates from communi- 
ties round about would remind us that Medford is not yet heaven. For 
at times, we are told, there are odors about Medford Square which we 
do not expect to find in heaven. 

We do feel that because of what Medford has been, and because of 
what she is today, we are a little bit superior to the rest of the world. 
And I think we ought to think more highly of ourselves than we do. I 
do not know of any shibboleth that we can better emblazon upon the 
portals of Medford as she enters upon the last quarter of her third century 
of existence, than the motto of a well known publisher, "Nothing but 
the best' ' — the best in thought, the best in expression, the best in personal 
character, the best in pubUc and official hfe. 

When Minister Wu, at one time Minister of China in this country, 
accepted an invitation to dine with the Lotus Club of New York City, 
he said, "My countrymen value the lotus plant because it is a plant that 
you can plunge into the mud and bring forth again perfectly clean. 
When I dine with Lotus men I take it that I am in superior company." 
It was a magnificent compUment, it was superbly expressed, it was splen- 
didly practical. But somehow I feel that the compUment that Minister 
Wu paid to the members of the Lotus Club in New York ought to be 
paid to every son and daughter of old Medford. We want that Med- 
ford's children shall be lotus children; we want that Medford herself 
shall become a lotus community. 

I can wish nothing better for the citizens of Medford and for Medford 
herself than that there may be answered in our community that prayer 
which was expressed by the poet when he said: 

"God give us men! A time like this demands 
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and wiUing hands. 
Men whom the lust for office does not kill; 
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; i 

Men who possess opinions and a will; 
Men who have honor; men who will not lie; 
Men who can stand before a demagogue 
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking; 



THE BANQUET. l6i 

Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog 
In pubHc duty and in private thinking. 
For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds, 
Their large professions and their little deeds, 
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! freedom wxeps; 
Wrong rules the land, and waiting justice sleeps." 

I do not know how we can better bring these exercises to a conclusion 
than by proposing a toast, and it is this: Old Medford, beloved of all her 
sons and daughters, may her years be miUtiplied, may her citizens enjoy 
prosperity, may her name become the pride of this grand old Common- 
wealth, and may her lotus character become a crown of glory upon the 
brow of our nation and the highest peon of gratitude to Him whose hand 
unfurls and guards the stars and stripes, and by whose grace from, this 
day forward His will shall be our law and He Himself shall be our King. 
(Applause.) 

The proceedings then terminated. 



PROGRAM 

FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 1905. 



SCHOOL EXERCISES, MORNING AND AFTERNOON. 

DEDICATION OF GOV. BROOKS TABLET, AFTERNOON. 

CARNIVAL ON MYSTIC LAKE, EVENING. 




LORIN L. DAME 



BENJAMIN F. MORRISON 



GROUP OF EDUCATORS 
CHARLES CUMMINGS 



MISS HETTIE F. WAIT 



RUFUS SAWYER 



SCHOOL EXERCISES. 

Primary grades of James, Curtis, and Osgood Schools, 300 pupils, 
held exercises in Franklin School Hall. 

Primary grades of Everett and Swan Schools, 350 pupils, held exer- 
cises in Washington School Hall. 

Primary grades of Cradock and Tufts Schools, 535 pupils, held exer- 
cises in Lincoln School Hall. 

Primary grades of Hillside, Cummings, Gleason, Hall, and Hervey 
Schools, 475 pupils, held exercises in Brooks School Hall. 



The entertainment for the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades of the city was held 
at the Opera House, Friday, June i6th, at two o'clock. 

Over a thousand children with banners flying and flags waving filled 
the large auditorium. 

Mayor Dwyer, after a rousing cheer from the children, gave a few 
words of welcome, after which the schools sang "Flag of Our Native 
Land" and "Maryland! My Maryland!" 

Supt. Charles H. Morss then introduced Prof. Charles Bickford of the 
Boston Young Men's Christian Union, who prepared the young audience 
for the entertainment which was to follow. He was to be, he said, "a 
living program." 

After a brief reference to the Indian life of America by Prof. Bickford, 
five Indian boys, in their deer-skins, feathers, and war paint, stealthily 
made their appearance, aiming their arrows at the audience, and making 
their exit by way of an Indian war dance. 

The next period of history needed no explanation as eight little Pilgrim 
boys and girls in sombre costumes marched solemnly in and sang, "The 
Landing of the Pilgrims." 

Salem witchcraft was next represented by two little girls, dressed in 
witch costumes, rapidly flying in and out of the wings in close pursuit of 
each other with brooms held high. 

At this point. Master Russell Hamlin and Miss Dora Page sang "The 
Star Spangled Banner,' ' while the schools joined in the chorus, waving 
their flags vigorously. 

Three more periods of history followed this. A little Quaker girl and 
boy courtesied in from opposite sides of the stage and sang a Quaker love 
song, much to the enjoyment of the audience. 



l66 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Following the Quaker period was a Colonial minuet. The brilliant 
costumes and stately step of the participants held the young spectators 
spellbound. 

Much enthusiasm was displayed when, to represent the Civil War 
period, two soldiers — one in blue and one in gray — marched on in time 
to martial music. Then while the soldiers stood with guns at rest, the 
children sang, "Soldier's Farewell." 

The present day was represented by thirty Uttle girls in white who gave 
a song drill in perfect unison and rhythm and with much grace. 

The singing of "Beloved Land" by the schools was followed by a 
tableau showing Columbia surrounded by the representatives of the pre- 
vious periods of history, and while the audience sang "Columbia, the 
Gem of the Ocean," Columbia gently waved the Stars and Stripes. 

ADDRESS OF MAYOR MICHAEL F. DWYER. 

My dearly beloved children: — 

It gives me great pleasure to come here today and bring to you the 
greetings of the city. I am deeply affected by the genuineness and the 
warmth of your greeting; the more so because I know they come from 
young hearts not beguiled by the ways and the mysteries of the world. 
You are fortunate in hving at the time when this grand, historic city 
celebrates the 275th anniversary of her birth. This city, in which you 
live and in which you are destined in the near future to play a not in- 
conspicuous part, is a city whose history is as glorious as that of any in 
this broad land of ours. Founded in 1630, it stands with Boston and 
Salem, and her place in the history of our country is in itself unique. 
Settled by the class of men known as the Puritans, who left England and 
came to this land, to these inhospitable shores, they worked out for them- 
selves and their descendants a destiny and a history that have become 
the wonder of all mankind. They brought with them three distinct 
things that have done so much to make the name of New England great 
in all history, — the free church, the free school, and the free printing press- 
They beUeved in popular education; they beUeved that the school was 
the corner stone of our system of government; that an intelligent pro- 
gressive people must be a free people. They believed in the church be- 
cause without the grace of our Creator man could not succeed. They 
beUeved in the printing press in order that the acts of the present may 
be transmitted to the future. Many of us have the proud heritage of 
having been born and educated in this city. 



SCHOOL EXERCISES. l5y 

The man who left his impress on the educational history of our city, 
Rev. Charles Brooks, a graduate of Harvard University, gave his whole 
hfe (except for a short time when he was a minister at Hingham) to the 
education of the children in order that the young might receive the prop- 
er training necessary for their success in after life. With Horace Mann 
he founded the present Normal School, after having travelled through 
Europe and examined the best methods of instruction that foreign coun- 
tries had to give. You should endeavor to embrace and get all the bene- 
fit you can out of the opportunities now put in your way. Childhood's 
happy hours often fail to grasp all the good things so freely given by the 
citizens of this city. In after life, you will find that many things which 
you now learn will be of inestimable value and benefit to you. Many 
of the principal actors in this celebration, when our 300th anniversary 
comes, will not be here to participate in it. When I was a boy, I heard 
many elderly ladies who remembered it speak with a great deal of pleas- 
ure of the coming to Medford of Lafayette, the French general, who 
came to this country to help the immortal Washington gain our freedom. 
Just across the street, where the savings bank building now stands, we 
are this afternoon to dedicate a tablet to his companion-in-arms, also an 
old school boy of Medford, General John Brooks. There was the home 
of Gov. Brooks and there he entertained Lafayette during his visit. 

Again, my dear children, I want to tell you that you are the inhabi- 
tants of no mean city. In ancient Greece and Rome, to be made a citizen 
of those republics was the highest honor that could be conferred upon 
any man. In the early history of our country a day was set apart, known 
as the Freemen's Day, in which all the inhabitants took the freeman's 
oath. A casual study of the history of Medford wUl show to you the 
conspicuous part that she took in the history and development of this free 
America. I say free America, because we are now the greatest, strongest 
and the grandest nation in the world. Even before revolutionary times 
our city did her full part, and in the Revolution the history of Medford 
stands out as bright and grand as that of any other. Through our streets 
passed Paul Revere on his way to Lexington and in and around where 
we now are the troops from the various colonies came for the battle of 
Bunker Hill on the 17th day of June, 1775. Washington had his head- 
quarters m the old Colonel Isaac RoyaU House; Captain John Brooks 
was in command, not of the Medford, but of the Reading Company. 
This town sent forth more men and did more, considering her popula- 
tion and her wealth, than any other town in Massachusetts. Her history 
IS your history and it is for you to perpetuate that history after those 



1 68 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

who have done their part shall have passed away. You will be the 
principal actors in the affairs of the future. 

I want you to have all the real enjoyment you can, take all the pleasure 
that you can out of this celebration. I want you to enjoy yourselves in 
the old-fashioned American way, that this celebration and the remem- 
brance of it will be indehbly marked on your minds and bring pleasant 
memories in the future. 

This, followed by the singing of "God of the Free" and "America," 
fittingly closed the entertainment. 

Following is the program of the exercises of the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades 
at the Opera House: — 

Song, Beloved Land. 

Spinning Scene, Pupils of Brooks School 

Song, Flag that Floats for Freedom. 

Songs, Come with Thy Lute to the Fountain. 

A wish for the Mountains. Pupils of Washington School. 

Songs I •^^'■'c^ °^ ^^^ ^^"' °^ Harlech. 

( Flag of Our Country, Pupils of Lincoln School' 

Star Spangled Banner, Soloist, Miss Wither. 
Songs, Happy Miller. Sea Bird, Pupils of Centre School. 

Song, Columbia the Gem of the Ocean. 

A Tribute to Columbia, (A Hoop Drill) Pupils of Frankhn School. 
Songs, God of the Free. America. 

The Spinning Scene given by pupils of the Brooks School was arranged 
to illustrate one of the most common occupations of the housewives of 
the early days of Medford. 

Twenty-four girls dressed in Colonial costumes sang Eichberg's spin- 
ning song while they grouped themselves about the stage in various wheel 
designs, and wound the yarn from the skeins. 

Two dames presided at spinning wheels, one spinning the rolls into 
thread, and the other twisting the strands into yarn. 

SCHOOL exhibit. 

The exhibition of drawing and manual work in Assembly Hall of the 
High School building was a credit to the city, and the instructors have 
good reason to feel proud of the success of their work. 

In the kindergarten work it was wonderful how adept the little fingers 
had become; and the patient training of the teacher was certainly evi- 
denced by the designs containing"the beginning of sewing, paper folding, 



SCHOOL EXERCISES. 1 69 

and free hand paper cutting. The free hand drawings were very 
creditable. 

The first grade in manual training is all free hand cutting. The 
teachers of this grade aim to get the children adept in hand work; and 
the spool braiding, basket work, string work, weaving, etc., on exhibition 
was excellent. A hammock pillow from the Swan School was much 
admired. 

One attractive piece of work was the doll house made by Grades 1,2, 
and 3 of the Cradock School. The house was of wood, with paper bed- 
room sets and wooden furniture down stairs. 

The Gleason School, besides having an excellent example of chair 
caning, had a very good doll house. The furniture was made of paper, 
and the carpets were woven with rafiia and zephyr. The Hillside School, 
representing Grade i, had a doll house. 

Grade 2 had designs in free hand cutting, tissue work, strip weaving 
in all forms of raflSa work, photograph frames, holders, group work in 
clay, etc. 

The dra^vings and rafl&a work of Grade 3 was very creditable. From 
the Cradock School was an interesting exhibit of miniature dining tables, 
sideboards, chairs, and other articles whittled from wood. The paper 
work was exceptionally fine, as was also the weaving, braiding work, 
etc. There were also napkin rings, bon bon trays, dolls' hats, and orna- 
mental covers. 

Grade 4 exhibited a display of basket work. There were also looms 
showing how the children make their hammocks, and from the Franklin 
School there were some very nice hammocks in the exhibit. 

The manual work of Grade 5 is in thin wood. The pupils work from 
blue prints. Pencil sharpeners, fish hne winders, brackets, boxes, sun 
dials, sled, etc., were in the display. 

Grade 6 had frames, razor strops, paper cutters, ornamented rattles, 
and other articles. From the Washington School were some fine file 
handles, and from the Centre School some excellent flower sticks and 
wedges. 

There was a goodly display of net work from the pupils of Grade 7. 
In this grade the scholars are taught how to knot and splice ropes, make 
hammocks, etc. Mesh pins, needles and various forms of woodwork 
were also displayed in this exhibit. 

Grade 8 does the regular bench work. The display consisted of corner 
brackets, clothes-hangers, hammer handles, bread boards, looms for 
weaving, knife boxes, etc., all being excellent examples. 



170 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Grade 9 had a commendable display of bookbinding, also towel rollers, 
pen trays, carvings, paper cutters, teapot stands, crickets, etc. 

The High School's showing of designs for rugs, glove cases, lamp 
shades, candle shades, and book covers was very interesting, as also 
the exhibit of vases, mottoes, water colors, groups, pencil work, char- 
coal, plate designs, nature work, etc. 

All the foregoing exhibits were in charge of Mr. Joseph T. Whitney, 
teacher of manual training, and Miss Josephine Kintz and Miss Helen 
L. Savary, teachers of drawing. 

The exhibit of cooking was under the supervision of the teacher. Miss 
Mary M. Lake. She was assisted by two dainty misses neatly costumed 
in white. They were Misses Susie Newhall and Eileen Harrington. A 
very appetizing display of the choicest of mufl&ns, loaves of white and 
brown bread, ginger bread, salads, jellies, blanc mange, candies, etc., 
bespoke the pupils' efficiency in this art. 

In the sewing department, the teacher, Mrs. Cora L. Russell was in 
charge. The work exhibited was very creditable, and consisted of the 
first rudiments, basting, back-stitching, overcasting, hemming, running 
stitch, also French hemming, loops, gussets, patching, darning, tucking, 
buttonholing, fell seaming, etc. Sewing bags, marble bags (by the 
boys), skirts, corset covers, hemstitched handkerchiefs, pillow cases, 
cooking garbs, a dressed Japanese doll and many other useful articles by 
the more advanced pupils were displayed. 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING 

OF THE 

GOV. BROOKS TABLET 




GOV. JOHN BROOKS 
1752 - 1825 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLET 
MARKING SITE OF GOV. BROOKS' HOME. 

On June i6, 1905, at three o'clock in the afternoon, occurred the un- 
veiling of the bronze tablet which had been placed on the Savings Bank 
Building by the Massachusetts Society Sons of the American Revolution 
to mark the site of the residence of Governor John Brooks. The gather- 
ing, which took place outside the bank building just in front of the tablet 
was called to order by Dr. Moses Greeley Parker of Lowell, Mass., 
President of the Society, who said: 

The President. Ladies and gentlemen: The hour has arrived 
for the dedication of the tablet placed here by the Massachusetts Society 
Sons of the American Revolution, in honor of John Brooks. The ser- 
vices will begin with prayer by our chaplain, the Rev. Louis W. Hicks. 

After prayer by Mr. Hicks, Mr. Charles F. Read was called upon, and 
said: 

Mr. President, as treasurer of the committee appointed to place a mem- 
orial tablet to mark the site of the house of John Brooks, I have to report 
that the work of the committee is accomplished and the tablet is ready 
for dedication. 

Mr. Read then, at thePresident's request, unveiled the tablet, on which 
is the following inscription: 

ON THIS SITE STOOD THE HOUSE OF 

BORN 1752 JOHN BROOKS died 1825 

DISTINGUISHED CITIZEN, PHYSICIAN, PATRIOT 

CAPTAIN AND MAJOR 1775-1776 LIEUTENANT COLONEL 1776-1783 

IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 

BRIGADIER GENERAL 1792-1796 UNITED STATES ARMY 

MAJOR GENERAL 1786-1796 ADJUTANT GENERAL 1813-1816 

MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA 

GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS 

1816-1823 

HONORARY A. M., M. D., AND LL. D., OVERSEER 

HARVARD COLLEGE. 



THIS TABLET PLACED BY 
THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 

1905 



174 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

The President. The Society wishes to thank you, sir, for your 
work well done and quickly done. 

address of presentation by dr. MOSES GREELEY PARKER. 

The Massachusetts Society S.A.R. places this tablet here to mark the 
site of the house of John Brooks, physician, soldier, statesman. He was 
the son of Capt. Caleb Brooks, a farmer, and lived on the farm until he 
was fourteen years old. He was then apprenticed to Dr. Simon Tufts 
for seven years. He and Count Rumford were fellow students, and their 
intimacy continued until the death of the count. He practiced medicine 
in Reading, where he commanded a company of minutemen and did 
good service with this company at Lexington, April 19, 1775. He was 
major in Bridge's regiment and acted in intrenching Breed's Hill on the 
night of June 16, 1775. He was made major of Col. Webb's regiment 
and assisted in fortifying Dorchester Heights. He was at the battle of 
White Plains, his regiment being the last to quit the field, and received 
the distinguished acknowledgment of Gen. Washington. In 1777, he 
was made lieutenant-colonel of the 8th Massachusetts regiment. 

In August of 1777, he accompanied Arnold's command against St. 
Leger and besieged Fort Stanwick. He was at the battle of Saratoga, 
turning the right of the enemy (veteran German troops) and stormed 
their intrenchments. He was associated with Steuben, inspector-general 
1778, and was acting adjutant-general at the battle of Monmouth. After 
the Revolutionary war, he resumed the practice of medicine in Medf ord. 
He was for many years major-general of the militia and member of the 
legislature. He was delegate to the Massachusetts convention for the 
adoption of the federal constitution. In 1795, he was appointed by 
Washington marshal of his district and inspector of revenue. He was 
for several years state senator and councillor. During the war of 181 2- 
181 5 he was adjutant-general of the state and after the war was governor 
of the state seven years, 1816-1823, when he retired to private life. In 
1816, Harvard University gave him the degree of M. D. and LL. D. He 
was president of the Massachusetts Medical Society from 18 17 to the 
day of his death, March i, 1825. 

The Massachusetts Society, S. A. R., has placed this tablet on this 
building with the consent and cordial approval of the Medford Savings 
Bank, to remain here as a perpetual memorial to Medford's most dis- 
tinguished citizen and now presents it to the city of Medford, through 
its mayor, and trusts that you and your successors in office will cherish 
it as long as the city lasts. (Applause.) 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE GOV. BROOKS TABLET. 1 75 

His Honor, Mayor Michael F. Dwyer, accepted the tablet on behalf 
of the city. 

ADDRESS OF HIS HONOR MICHAEL F. DWYER. 

Mr. President, Members of the Massachusetts Society, Sons of the Ameri- 
can Revolution: 
I accept this tablet in behalf of the city of Medford, and I desire to 
say a few words preliminary to the address which I have prepared. 

When I was a boy I conversed with many of the older men in the town. 
At that time Caleb Brooks and John Gates (both veterans of the war of 
181 2) and also the son of Timothy Bigelow, who was one of the best 
antiquarians and one of the best posted men on the history of our town, 
told me many things in regard to Medford 's distinguished son whom we 
honor here today. As I told the school children in the Opera House this 
afternoon, many of the fondest recollections of my youth are of the stories 
told to me by the old men and old women who in their youth were mem- 
bers of our public schools, and who stood on this spot where we are now 
standing and greeted the chivalrous Lafayette when he came here in 
1820 to pay a visit to his old companion-in-arms. 

To take part in the dedication of a memorial to that great man, Gov. 
John Brooks, is, indeed, an honor. Born in 1 752, and living beyond the 
allotted three score years and ten, his was a life of sacrifice to duty. Leav- 
ing school at the early age of fourteen, he struggled manfully under the 
tutelage of Dr. Simon Tufts to make up for the educational advantages 
he had lost. At twenty-one he became a practicing physician, and took 
up his residence in the neighboring town of Reading. Freedom's call 
found him, at the age of twenty-three in the possession of a growing and 
lucrative practice; but, leaving his young and recently married wife, he 
as captain of the minutemen, called his men together and rushed to the 
aid of his fellow countrymen in the great struggle for Uberty that began 
at Lexington. From that time on until the Father of his Country took 
the last farewell of the officers of his army at New York, he was ever 
found fighting valiantly in hberty's ranks. Whether at Lexington, the 
siege of Boston, at White Plains, the heights of Saratoga, that frightful 
winter at Valley Forge, at Yorktown, or at that last fateful time when 
discontent and mutiny in the army bade fair to undo the great work of the 
Revolution, he was ever steadfast, ever ready, ever faithful in the per- 
formance of his duty. All through that mighty struggle he led his men, 
bravely, loyally, never faltering, never questioning why. When all was 
over, when the citizen soldier returned to take up his life work where he 



176 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

had dropped it eight years before, he chose his native town to begin the 
strife anew to provide means for himself and family. The same devo- 
tion to duty that marked his work in the trying days of the war for in- 
dependence crowned his efforts and made his success secure. 

He advocated the acceptance of the federal constitution and did all 
in his power to bind together in one common bond all the thirteen colo- 
nies which had joined to throw ofif the British yoke and establish these 
United States, which we pray may go on forever fostering and spreading 
that liberty which may ever enlighten the world. You can swiftly follow 
him through the several military and civic offices up to the time when his 
fellow citizens demanded that he take the first office in our dear old Com- 
monwealth. For seven years he was our chief magistrate, refusing longer 
to take upon himself the arduous duties of that office. His patriotism 
never faltered, he never failed in his love of country, and later offered 
one of his sons, bearing his own name, on the altar of his native 
land, only to see him die in the famous victory of Commodore Perry 
on Lake Erie. 

In 1825 came the end, and the hearts of a sorrowing state and com- 
munity throbbed with regret as the funeral march led to the old Salem 
Street cemetery and the last earthly rites were performed over his honored 
grave. You all know the race from which he sprang. A goodly number 
of the stock abide with us today. You know them and their character. 
No better, no more enterprising, no more public-spirited, no more worthy, 
no more ardent in the pursuits of knowledge and the education of all the 
people dwell in our midst. This family has spread over New England 
and the nation, and has done, and is still doing much to build up our 
Union and develop its resources. The poet of this celebration came 
from this stock, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of our Great 
and General Court, the historian, Adams, have sprung from the same 
race. Why name more ? Many, many others could be mentioned, men 
who have worked hard and toiled long that Uberty should succeed and 
live. Their names are many and their work immeasurable. History 
tells us that he played the soldier and taught mihtary tactics to the youth 
and young men, while even still a mere stripling. I thought of this last 
Saturday when the boys of our High School were going through their 
tactics on the common and learning in miniature the lessons of actual 
warfare. 

John Brooks was faithful in all things and always loyal to friend, family, 
State and country. He was a compatriot of Washington, a brave soldier, 
a trusted officer, a wise statesman, a faithful physician, a worthy counsel- 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE GOV. BROOKS TABLET. 177 

lor, and a true friend. Loved, honored, respected, revered, his name and 
the fame and memory of his deeds will live on forever. We wish that 
we could keep the old historic homes of our city, but progress has decreed 
otherwise. Yet, we erect monuments and place thereon tablets to our 
great men, in order to arouse and foster the patriotism of those who 
come after, who will thus learn of the good their ancestors have done. 
These tablets are reminders that hfe at best is short, and that it behooves 
us to make the most of its narrow span. Let us ever strive, be ever 
constant, ever true. Let our ideals be ever high, and may the lesson 
taught by Gov. Brooks and the faithful men of his day be ever present 
in our thoughts and minds, and our country will never fail. Her prog- 
ress will be ever onward and upward and her future secure. (Applause.) 

The President: We have with us today ex-Mayor Charles S. 
Baxter, and I will ask him if he will kindly say a few words. 

ADDRESS OF HON. CHARLES S. BAXTER. 

Mr. Mayor and friends: 

Owing to circumstances which I could not prevent I was unable to be 
present at the unveiling of the tablet dedicated to Isaac Hall, neither 
could I participate last night in the banquet at the Armory. It is there- 
fore with very great pleasure that I come here today and take part in 
the unveiUng of an appropriate tablet to one of the great citizens of 
Medford in the olden days, and I want to thank your mayor who courte- 
ously pressed me to say a few words today. 

Medford is 275 years of age, and many of us have worked hard to make 
the 275th anniversary a success and worthy of this young and vigorous 
city with its beautiful traditions. I am sure I speak for the citizens of 
Medford when I say, Mr. President, that we are grateful to your society 
when you come to our city and stamp in bronze the story of one of our 
great worthies of the olden times, whose very living gave fame to this 
city and gives us today a past of which we are proud. 

Can we not imagine in 1820 Governor Brooks talking with Lafayette 
whom he was then entertaining, talking about men whose very names 
then had been a memory for over a century. We are 275 years old, 
but we are young, we are vigorous in all that makes for progress, all that 
makes for advancement. 

The placing of these tablets does very much for our youth. It teaches 
them to honor tradition, it teaches them that in the lives of great men 
there is much to study. 



178 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

I am glad that the Massachusetts Society, Sons of the American Revo- 
lution, has come to Medford and erected this bronze tablet here. It will 
teach us to be proud of our traditions, it will teach us to live honorably 
today, and it will teach us to go forward into the future firm believers in 
an honored destiny for Medford. (Applause.) 

The President: The Society of Massachusetts, Sons of the 
American Revolution, is privileged and honored by the presence of the 
President- General of the National Society, Sons of the American Revo- 
lution, Gen. Francis H. Appleton, whom I have the pleasure now of in- 
troducing to you. (Applause.) 

address of gen. FRANCIS H. APPLETON. 

We are here to do special honor and pay tribute to the memory of 
Governor John Brooks ; but, in doing such appropriate service which our 
constitution and principles allot to us, it is for us individually and col- 
lectively to take in any lesson of the hour that may guide us in making 
the history of the present such that those who follow us will be as proud 
of recording our doings as we are of theirs. It was well planned by the 
Massachusetts Society, Sons of the American Revolution to thus mark 
the memory of one of Medford's distinguished sons. 

John Brooks did work in his early boyhood on his father's farm, where 
probably his rugged and healthful characteristics, beyond those which he 
inherited, were acquired. He attended the village school, we are told, 
with necessary irregularity, until he was fourteen; otherwise the good 
training of regular and active hfe on the farm could not have been ac- 
quired. Then he joined the household of Dr. Simon Tufts, the family 
physician, for medical education and training. He began his practice 
of the profession at Reading in 1773. He there undertook the drilling 
of a militia company, with a view to doing his part to protect the com- 
munity and to preserve the peace. 

Upon hearing of the march of the British for Lexington and Concord, 
Dr. Brooks ordered out his company and proceeded to the scene of battle, 
and there became distinguished for bravery and efficiency and was made 
a major in consequence. He and his men were active before Bunker 
Hill, 130 years ago this very day and hour; but on the 17th he was sent 
to Gen. Ward from Col. Prescott upon military business. In 1777, he 
was made lieutenant colonel of the 8th Massachusetts Regiment, and 
became active in the northern army, which caused Burgoyne's surrender. 
He was with Gen. Washington at Valley Forge, where that half-fed and 
half-clothed army of patriotic men proved their strength of body and 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE GOV. BROOKS TABLET. 1 79 

soul for their country's welfare. Early in 1778 he was promoted to 
colonel, and in June of that year distinguished himself at the battle of 
Monmouth. He became noted for his abihty as a tactician, and suc- 
ceeded that able man Baron Steuben as inspector general. 

At the close of the war he estabHshed himself in his profession here 
in Medford, and at the same time, served many years as major general 
of the mihtia of Massachusetts. He was a member of the State Con- 
vention that met in 1788 to ratify the Federal Constitution; and in 1795 
was by General Washington appointed marshal of his district and in- 
spector of revenues. From 181 2 to 181 5 he served as adjutant general 
of this State. In 1816 he was elected Governor, serving in that office for 
seven consecutive years; and then dechning a renomination, to retire 
to his Medford home and professional practice. Harvard College gave 
him an honorary degree of A.M., and in 1816 those of M.D. and LL.D, 
He was president of the Alassachusetts Medical Society from 181 7 until 
his death, and by will he bequeathed his Ubrary to that society. He 
died on the first of March, 1825, leaving a record of which his country 
and state can well be proud, after a life, the memory of which our society 
is here today to honor, and mark in perpetuity by these our acts. 

Fellow citizens of Medford, in behalf of our National Society I con- 
gratulate you and the Massachusetts Society Sons of the American Revo- 
lution who erect this tablet, that this action has been taken today. May 
it be well cared for by those who receive it, and may this beautiful city, 
its fame, as it were, ever grow as is best, to the good of itself, our Com- 
monwealth, and our wonderful nation. (Applause.) 

The President: We have with us this afternoon as a guest of the 
society, Miss A. L. Goodrich, Regent of the Saxah Bradley Chapter, 
D. A. R., and I will ask her to speak to us. 

ADDRESS OF MISS A. L. GOODRICH. 

Mr. President, Members 0} the Massachusetts Society, S. A. R.: 

I thank you for this honor which has so unexpectedly been thrust upon 
me since I came into the Square. I bring the most hearty congratula- 
tions of the Sarah Bradley Chapter of the D. A. R. W'e are engaged in a 
similar work, and it seems to me that every tablet dedicated in this way 
is a lesson in patriotism and that we teach patriotism to the youth of our 
generation through these symbols. 

I appreciate the work that has been done by your society in this way 
and I again congratulate you. (Applause.) 



l8o TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

The President: I shall next call upon one of our vice-presidents 
who is here this afternoon. You will be glad to know that we have with 
us Gen. Charles K. Darling, Vice-President of the Massachusetts Society, 
S. A. R. 

ADDRESS OF GENERAL CHARLES K. DARLING. 

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: 

About a week ago the president came to my office and asked me if I 
would come out this afternoon and make some extemporaneous re- 
marks upon this occasion. Last evening, when in my home in Con- 
cord, the invitation of the president was harassing me about as much as 
I think the Reading Company under the command of young Dr. 
Brooks, 130 years ago, was harassing the British, I proceeded to prepare 
my extemporaneous speech ; but, ladies and gentlemen, it has all gone 
by the board. 

Of course sources of information are common to us all, and the speech 
which I hold in my hand, beginning: "Born May 21, 1752," I am sure 
you have heard more eloquently from others. There are, however, a few 
things which I desire to say, and among them is that I am glad to stand 
here as a successor in one of the offices held by him whom we seek to hon- 
or — that of United States marshal for the district of Massachusetts. 
John Brooks was, I find, the second marshal, and he had either the good 
fortune of the good taste to hold the office but about two years, and then 
he passed onward and upward to higher and better things. 

I had occasion some years ago to edit at the State House the early laws 
of the Commonwealth, and they came down to the period during which 
Governor Brooks was in the Legislature and just previous to that period 
in which he assumed the chief magistracy of the Commonwealth. I 
have noted and noted with a great deal of pleasure that with the coming 
of Governor Brooks to the chief magistracy there seemed to be a change 
in many respects. For instance, he was the first — well-nigh the first — to 
make his annual speech to the legislature not a succession of glittering 
generaUties, but of genuine recommendation for the improvement of the 
Commonwealth. 

His interest in the militia never waned; and it is easy to discern the 
physician in his earnest recommendation for the amelioration of the con- 
dition of the insane, whose treatment in the early history of the Common- 
wealth cannot be looked back upon without a feeling of shame. We re- 
call that prior to that time and, in fact, down through his time, they were 
farmed out here and there about the Commonwealth to those who would 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE GOV. BROOKS TABLET. iSl 

bid the highest sum for their labor. He gave great attention to the care 
and condition of the prisoners; paid much attention to the stabihty of 
banking institutions, and warned against monopolies, concerning which 
we have heard something at this later day. 

It was during his seven-year tenure of the office that the custom 'of the 
House and Senate replying to the speech of the Governor was discontinued. 
It seems to me quite as likely that this was because he had fully covered 
the field in his recommendations and left no alternative but the conclu- 
sion that acts (or resolves) would speak louder than words. 

In his first inaugural address he said: "The Constitution of the United 
States is without precedent and without parallel. * * * * The 
confederation was a government of courtesy. The national interests 
demanded one of efficiency and coercion. Regulating commerce, main- 
taining customary intercourse with other nations, forming treaties, exer- 
cising the rights of war and peace, and providing for the national defences 
were large concessions made to the government of the United States; but 
they were then, and are still believed to be necessary to maintain the 
stability of government, to command the confidence of our own citizens 
and the respect of other nations as well as to preserve the union of the 
States. ***** Massachusetts will be among the last to im- 
pair the union of the States as she would be the last silently to abandon 
her own just rights." 

And so we set up this bronze tablet, not indeed to preserve his name, 
for it is written large in the history of his town, his state and his nation; 
not as an adequate memorial, but as a remembrancer that the passer-by, 
young or old, may be quickened in thought and inspired by the example 
of this man's Hfe and services for his country, may know and appreciate 
the fact that his was a singularly well rounded career, made so by faith- 
ful and honest effort in every position in which he was placed. 

I do not know any better words with which to close than those taken 
from one of his annual addresses: "The fathers of the Revolution indeed 
promised much, but more is realized. They promised us Hberty; and 
on what portion of earth were the blessings of it ever enjoyed to an equal 
extent ? They taught us the value, and inspired the hope of religious 
freedom; and what impediment here exists to limit the human mind in 
the pursuit of truth ? What authority to bind and enslave the conscience ? 
Nor is this all. From institutions founded on the basis of justice and 
equal rights, a peculiar spring and force has been imparted to the Ameri- 
can character; and our nation, though but of yesterday is rivalling in 
science, in arms and the useful arts the attainments of the most ancient 



1 82 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

and improved nations of Europe.' ' Well into the second century of our 
national life these words still ring true. It is for us and those who follow 
us to note their warning and their call to duty. 

The President : I want to thank our vice-president for his kind- 
ness. Now I have the pleasure of introducing to you Mr. David H. 
Brown, chairman of the executive committee in charge of this celebration, 

ADDRESS OF MR. DAVID H. BROWN. 

Mr. President and gentlemen of the S.A.R.: 

In behalf 'of the executive committee of the 275th Anniversary, I thank 
you for this beautiful bronze tablet in honor of Governor Brooks. Two 
generations ago, in 1838, a solid granite monument with appropriate 
inscriptions was erected to his memory in the old Salem Street cemetery. 

This new memorial of his life and eminent public services on the site 
of his residence for many years will bring him to the attention of this gen- 
eration, and these exercises will recall his successful career. Governor 
Brooks had the confidence of the people to a remarkable degree, and he 
responded to every call for service. He was identified with town aflfairs 
as well as with those of the State and the new national government. For 
several years he was one of the assessors and a selectman of Medford, 
and also served as a moderator of the town meeting. He represented 
Medford in the Legislature, and later was a member of the Senate. As 
major general of the militia he assisted in putting down Shay's Rebellion . 
During the time of the war with England, that began in 18 12, he was 
adjutant general, and had the militia of the State ready for any emergency 
that might arise, and was a member of Governor Strong's council for the 
same period. As the most important military adviser, his services must 
have proved invaluable and he naturally became Governor Strong's suc- 
cessor as Governor of the State. When it looked as though there might 
be a war with France, President Washington appointed Col. Brooks a 
brigadier general in the regular army. He retained that position from 
1792 to 1796. The Society of the Cincinnati that was organized at New- 
burgh before the army disbanded regarded him as one of its most dis- 
tinguished members, and invited him to give the first oration, July 4th, 
1787, and, on the death of General Lincoln, he was elected the president 
of the society. 

Thus he was held in high honor by his old army associates, his towns- 
men, the State and all who knew him. 

This tablet will continually bring to our minds the memory and ser- 
vices of Medford's most distinguished son. 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE GOV. BROOKS TABLET. 1 83 

The President: I thank all of the speakers for their kindness 
this afternoon. I shall call upon one more to make a few remarks in 
closing — Chaplain Hicks. 

address OF rev. LOUIS W. HICKS. 

I want to thank the president of our society for giving me the oppor- 
tunity of reading up on the life of this remarkable man, one of the most 
distinguished men of revolutionary days, who made a record, it seems 
to me, that is worth studying by every patriot in the United States. 

In placing the tablet on the spot where Gov. John Brooks passed the 
last years of his life we are paying merited honor to the memory of a man 
who was, in an important sense, a typical American; but who was, also, 
in a true sense, a very exceptional man. 

Trained to be a physician, he became a soldier at a time of life when 
he must naturally have desired to apply himself to the important duties 
of his profession ; when, indeed, to abandon a practice that had already 
begun to be lucrative was to jeopardize his entire future; and threw him- 
self with all the ardor of a warm and generous nature into whatever 
duties of a public nature were laid upon him by his appreciative fellow 
citizens. It was in the exercise of those duties, varied and multifarious, 
that he proved himself to be a typical American. And this it was that 
made the name of John Brooks so dear to his compatriots, and that has 
sent it down to us as an illustrious example of varied and successful 
service rendered in behalf of one's fellowmen and native land. But John 
Brooks was a typical man in a large and very exceptional way. He was 
called upon to exercise widely different and exceptionally important func- 
tions, such as fall to the lot of comparatively few; all of which he dis- 
charged in a way to call forth a high estimate of his character from those 
who were brought into closest contact with him. 

Inscriptions on tombstones are not always correct measures of the 
persons over whose remains they have been placed. But from the com- 
mon and universal tributes which were paid to his character while he 
lived, and which biographical records have concurrently been paid to him 
since he passed away, it is not too much to affirm that the epitaph on the 
monument erected to his memory is indeed a fair measure of what he 
really was. It reads, "He was a kind and skilful physician; a brave and 
prudent officer: a wise, firm and impartial magistrate: a true patriot, a 
good citizen and faithful friend. In his manners he was a gentleman: 
in morals pure: and in profession and practice, a consistent christian." 
Let us look at his record somewhat minutely to see whether we have not a 
right to conclude that such a tribute was entirely fair, and hence that he 



184 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

was what I have called him — a typical American in a very large and ex- 
ceptional sense of the word. That he was a brave and prudent officer 
appears not only from the fact that he rose by successive steps, by mer- 
ited promotions, to the rank of colonel in the Revolutionary Army; had 
duties assigned him which involved great care, skill and bravery to per- 
form; gallantly and successfully led his forces in a contest w^ith tried 
veterans of European armies; and, after the war was over, in 181 2, be- 
came adjutant-general of Massachusetts, and, later, a major-general of 
the Massachusetts militia. He is also known to have won the especial 
confidence and esteem of Washington, which he could not have gained 
without evincing bravery and prudence to a very high degree. It is re- 
lated that in the affair at Newburgh, when a revolt was seething against 
the authority of Washington, Col. Brooks was requested by his com- 
mander to keep his officers within quarters, that they might not attend 
the insurgents* meeting. To this request he replied, "Sir, I have an- 
ticipated your wishes, and my orders are given." Thereupon, Wash- 
ington said, as he took Col. Brooks by the hand, "Col. Brooks, it is just 
what I expected of you" — a sentence that is enough in itself to put a 
stamp of bravery and prudence on the character of the man whom we 
would honor today. But Washington did more than comphment him 
with warm words of praise. When the war was over and he had oppor- 
tunity to express in a more substantial way his esteem for those whom he 
had found to be brave and true in the hard school of war, he appointed 
Col. Brooks marshal of this district and inspector of revenue, thus put- 
ting a golden seal upon his estimate of his friend. Moreover, when 
Washington visited Massachusetts in 1789, he deviated from his direct 
route that he might meet and take leave of his old companion-in-arms. 
Higher praise than General Washington gave to the true and the tried 
could not have been given by any man. 

Furthermore, it is said of Col. Brooks that he was "a firm and im- 
partial magistrate." To this monumental declaration there may well 
be added the record of Carpenter, in his history of Massachusetts, that 
"Gov. Brooks' conduct in the chief magistracy was characterized by 
dignity, honesty and energy, and was acceptable to the great body of his 
fellow citizens, without distinction of party." Great emphasis is added 
to these statements by the knowledge that Col. Brooks was chosen to be 
Governor of this Commonwealth for seven successive terms — from 1816 
to 1823 — and that his term of office was not further prolonged simply 
because he declined another election, which he certainly had a right to 
do, inasmuch as he had reached his seventy-first year. The period in 
which he exercised the high functions of the executive office also adds 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE GOV. BROOKS TABLET. 1 85 

emphasis to his popularity and efficiency ; for it was a period when un- 
usually grave questions of national interest and importance were before 
the country — questions that were naturally calculated to divide the opin- 
ions of the people and make it extremely difficult for a public officer to 
hold the votes of his fellow citizens, "without distinction of party.' ' Rare 
as it would be in any period thus to hold for seven years an honor that 
might well be coveted by any man, and that many men have vainly cov- 
eted in all the periods of the history of our noble State, it was peculiarly 
honorable that during those particular years of Governor Brooks' ad- 
ministration, when such questions as the Missouri Compromise and the 
tariff were agitating the minds of the people, he should so have approved 
himself to the whole body of his fellow citizens as to have led them to 
think of continuing him in office still longer. 

But we are not to forget that John Brooks was, first of all and last of 
all, a physician— "a kind and skilful physician." Though wiUing, out 
of the love which he had for home and native land, to abandon his chosen 
life work for a season, or even forever, if it were the behest of the Al- 
mighty that he should lay his hfe down for the cause of liberty, yet his 
desire to serve his fellowmen in the capacity of a physician was by no 
means relinquished, and was allowed to have its fruition on his return 
from the war, when he resumed the practice of his chosen profession. 
So well did he commend himself by the exercise of his exalted calling 
that he won for himself in 18 16 the degree of M. D. from Harvard Col- 
lege, to which was added, at the same time, that of LL.D. Moreover, 
from 181 7 until his death, in 1825, he was the president of the Massa- 
chusetts Medical Society, an honor which indicated the eminent posi- 
tion to which he had attained as a practitioner of medicine. How many 
papers he contributed to medical and kindred societies the speaker is 
unable to say, but a paper on the subject of pneumonia is known to have 
been pubhshed by him in 1808; and a discourse which he delivered before 
the Massachusetts Humane Society, in 1795, elicited from the Register 
of the Royal Humane Society of London the compHment that it was 
"elegant and judicious," — a statement which a careful reading of the 
discourse has stamped as being well merited. Of Dr. Brooks' quahties 
as a physician, it has been said by a fellow practitioner that "he ranked 
in the first class; possessed in an eminent degree the quahties which were 
calculated to render him the most useful in his professional labors, and 
the dehght of those to whom he administered reUef. He was kind, pa- 
tient and attentive. His mind was well stored with scientific and practi- 
cal knowledge. He rarely failed in forming a true diagnosis. He soared 
above the sordid consideration of the property he should accumulate by 



1 86 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

his professional labors. He considered the poor his best friends, for 
God was their paymaster." 

But once more, John Brooks is said to have been "a consistent Chris- 
tian," — a verdict which all the facts gleaned from his life amply cor- 
roborate. "Above all," said Dr. Dixwell, "his conduct was regulated 
by the influence of that pure morahty derived from our holy rehgion, 
. which was impressed deeply upon his mind at an early period of his life.' ' 
Humble he always was, and he was that which the founder of our re- 
ligion declared to be a proof of sonship to God — in a word, he was a 
peacemaker. Indeed, an eminent lawyer who lived in Medford said 
that he had no professional business in the town because Governor 
Brooks prevented all contentions in the law. 

Another mark of his christian character is a characteristic referred to 
by Carpenter, who says that "he served cheerfully and efficiently in any 
civil or mihtary duty to which his countrymen called him." Would 
that it might be as truthfully said of all that call themselves Christians 
today! And still another proof of his exalted character is seen in the 
fact that he faced his last enemy with the utmost calmness, and was able 
to say in that supreme hour, "To God I can appeal that it has been my 
humble endeavor to serve Him sincerely." 

Now, what shall we say, in conclusion, of this typical American, — 
typical, and yet so much more than that ? I can find no better words to 
apply to him than those which Ambassador Choate spoke the other day 
concerning President Roosevelt. "At home he has done something to 
raise the inherent character. I think he has set an example in his own 
person to the young men of the country; especially the best thing that 
they can do with their powers, brains, hearts and their lives is to devote 
them to the service of their country.' ' Yes, that is precisely what Gover- 
nor Brooks did in his day g,nd generation; and that is what the careful 
reading and consideration of his life is calcuated to do today. I could 
wish, then, that Dr. Dixwell's Memoir, with supplemental data, might 
be published in a convenient form for circulaton among the youth of 
our State, and elsewhere, to inspire them to self-sacrificing endeavor, 
so that the affairs of our State and Nation may always be administered 
wisely, even as he whom we are honoring today administered affairs! 
(Applause.) 

The President asked all the speakers and the members of the Massa- 
chusetts Society, S.A.R. to assemble around the tablet to be photographed 
with it. 



CARNIVAL 

ON 

MYSTIC LAKE 




BELOW THE DAM 



MYSTIC LAKE 



DAM AND BOAT CLUB HOUSE 



ALONG UPPER MYSTIC 



CARNIVAL ON MYSTIC LAKE. 

A more ideal night could not have been selected for the carnival on 
Mystic Lake, the Medford Boat Club's contribution to the 275th An- 
niversary celebration, which was fully enjoyed by the thousands who 
wended their way to the shores of the lake on Friday evening. 

Music was furnished by Murdock's orchestra of Boston, the concert 
beginning shortly after seven o'clock and continuing at intervals through 
the evening. 

Soon after sundown, the last touches to the decorated canoes and 
dories having been added, formation was made at the left of the float 
near the Arhngton shore, and the line proceeded around the lake, pas- 
sing the clubhouse twice. The schemes of decoration were varied and 
in every instance effective. Some were most artistic, while others were 
of a humorous nature. 

William G. Howard, as a lone Indian, in a birch bark canoe, lighted 
by a single torch in the bow, was the favorite. Four Indians — Mather, 
Darrah, Walkling, and Smith — were in the war-canoe "Old Medford," 
and their costumes were very realistic. Another scheme of Hiawatha 
paddling and Minnehaha reclining in a wigwam was the Burnhams' idea, 
and it was effective. An enormous white bottle labelled " Old Medford, 
1630-1905," was significant, and the work of William J. Hyde. Waldo 
Manson had a huge pumpkin jack-o-lantern, and his companion was 
Miss Melita Saville. A very artistic effect was produced by H. T. White- 
head, whose canoe was trimmed with Ught crepe paper and from the four 
arching supports was suspended a white bell. A beautiful Venetian 
gondola was fashioned from a canoe occupied by Messrs. Ames and 
Peckham. S. P. Sargent's canoe was artistically trimmed with Japanese 
lanterns. 

Others in line were: — W. A. Jones with family, and H. L. Keller and 
family in a large power dory; George S. Hedge, wife and daughter; 
Frank Trott and his dog in a finely decorated canoe ; J. William WilUams, 
Jr.; F. Elmer Fenton; Harry L. Shaw, in his canoe "Ruth"; William 
H. Neilson with the Misses Tannatt and Hall; Stanley P. Wyatt and 
Mrs. M. S. Norton; Harold Boardman; Oscar Cunningham and party; 
Lyman Sise in a dory with orange colored lanterns; Rosewell Sampson; 
F. D. Wing, with his wife and guest; Aldermen William E. Crosby and 



igo TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Asa R. Minard, with their wives in the canoe "Cheemaun"; E. O. Cole 
and wife; Leonard B. Allen; Harold G. Loomis and W. T. Taylor; 
Frank C. Day and Miss Blanche C. Ross; WiUiam A. Packard; 
Richard Smith; W. E. Whittaker. Over forty were in the procession. 

Several of the canoes were requested to pass the clubhouse a third time, 
and from these the prize-winners were picked by the judges, Herman D. 
Murphy, of the Winchester Boat Club; F. J. Babcock, of the Innitou 
Club, Woburn, and Frank I. Libby, of the Medford Boat Club. The 
first prize was awarded to William G. Howard, the lone Indian; second, 
to Waldo Manson, with the pumpkin; third, to H. T. Whitehead, who 
had the wedding bell; first honorable mention was Hyde's bottle; second, 
the gondola, Ames and Peckham; third, S. P. Sargent. The prizes were 
gold, silver and bronze medals, reproducing the city seal; the honorable 
mentions were club flags. 

There was a varied display of fireworks from a float in the middle of 
the lake, William Mason, the club's janitor, having this feature in charge. 

The committee of arrangements consisted of John B. Howard, Henry 
S. Bridge and Benjamin F. Jacobs, Jr. 



PROGRAM 

SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1905. 



PARADE, MORNING. 
CANOE ASSOCIATION MEET, MORNING. 
ATHLETIC SPORTS, BROOKS PLAYSTEAD, AFTERNOON. 
BAND CONCERT AND FIREWORKS, EVENING. 




o 



THE PARADE. 

The popular feature of the 275th Anniversary celebration was the 
Parade, made up from military, civic, and trade organizations. More 
than two thousand men were in line, and the march of the procession 
over the four-mile route was a continuous ovation of enthusiastic ap- 
plause and favorable comment. The day was pleasant, with a high 
temperature, but good nature prevailed everywhere. Old Medford was 
gaily decorated, and open house was freely observed. 

The procession formed on Main Street, at Brooks Park, and moved 
promptly at 10.30 o'clock. The route was as follows: Main, South, 
Winthrop, West, Auburn, Prescott, Allston, High, Salem, Washington, 
Otis, Salem — to the Square. At the Common the line was reviewed by 
His Honor Mayor Dwyer, ex- Mayors Lawrence, Lovering, and Baxter, 
Chief Marshal Hallowell and staff, and the members of the city govern- 
ment. 

The roster of the Parade was as follows : — 

Police escort, commanded by Sergt. W. G. Ewell. 

Grand Marshal, Col. Norwood P. Hallowell; Brig. Gen. J. H. Whit- 
ney, Chief of Staff. 

Aids, Robert H. Hallowell, John W. Hallowell, Maj. Guy M. Preston, 
U. S. A., Lieut. Col. Hugh Bancroft, 2d brigade staff, M. V. M.; Lieut- 
Col. Elmore E. Locke, retired, Capt. Chas. F. Sargent, battery C, M.V. 
M. ; Capt. Morton E. Cobb, Capt. Charles R. Gow, Capt. W. S. Young- 
man, Lieut. James H. Gowing, ist Regt. H.A., U. S. V.; Sergt. Maj. F. J. 
Burnham, Sergt. H, L. Brown, and Bugler A. A. McKusick, all of the 
2d brigade staff, M. V. M. 

Honorary staff, George M. Whitcomb, Willard L. Dalrymple, Edward 
J. Doherty, George L. Newhall, Ned L. Morison, Frank C. Pitcher, J. 
Howard Cowin, Lawrence T. Sawyer, Alden W. Teel, John T. Cham- 
berlain, Walter F. Gushing, M. M. Converse, Gilbert Hodges, Capt. 
James M. Usher, Capt. Augustus L. Papanti, Michael M. Dyer, WiUiam 
Leavens, George D. Robinson, Jr., Louis B. Wellington, Arthur W. 
Wellington, James A. Royall, Lombard Williams, Harry Dutton, Lester 
Williams, and Charles H. Sawyer. 



194 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

FIRST DIVISION. 

Salem Cadet Band, Jean Missud, leader. 

Maj. Francis Meredith, Jr., 5th infantry, chief of division. 

Maj. E. L. Sweetser, 8th infantry, M. V. M., chief of staff. 

Capt. Fred A. Walker, 5th infantry, M. V. M., adjutant. 

Battery B., ist heavy artillery, Capt. Walter E. Lombard command- 
ing. 

Co. C, 5th regiment, Capt. E. R. Springer commanding. 

Co. L., 5th regiment, Capt. F. F. Cutting commanding. 

Co. E, 5th regiment, Lieut. Orville J. Whitney commanding. 

Co. B, 5th regiment, Capt. F. A. Facey commanding. 

Co. B, 8th regiment, Capt. Charles H. Hillman commanding. 

2d brigade signal corps, Capt. Walter C. Stevens commanding. 

Hospital corps, ist brigade, Capt. Robert E. Bell commanding. 

Battalion Massachusetts naval brigade, Lieut. D. M. Pray command- 
ing. 

Co. B, Lieut. C. E. Dillaway commanding. 

Co. C, Lieut. C. S. Felton commanding. 

Co. E, Lieut. E. S. Rice commanding. 

Troop D, ist battalion cavalry, M. V. M., Capt. Eugene A. Coburn 
commanding. 

Platoon Battery C, light artillery, Lieut. John S. Power commanding. 

5th regiment drum corps. 

Medford high school battalion, Maj. W. C. Chapman commanding; 
Capt. M. Russell Boynton, adjutant; Lieut. F. H. Benson, quartermaster. 

Co. A, Capt. W. J. Bogrett. 

Co. B, Capt. S. E. Hazelton. 

Co. C, Capt. M. E. Comstock. 

Co. D, Capt. K. F. Coe. 

S. C. Lawrence Camp 31, L. S. W. V., Commander John P. Drury. 

Battalion Sons of Veterans, Division Commander Everett J. Lynds; 
escorted by Gen. S. C. Lawrence Camp 54, Commander W. R. Wallace; 
S. C. Lawrence Post 66, G. A. R. in barges. Commander Isaac H, 
Gardner. 

SECOND DIVISION. 

Teele's Band. 

Capt. Herbert F. Staples, chief of division; Sergt. William H. Flowers, 
chief of stafif ; J. M. Baker, bugler; Edward A. Record, Charles A. Record, 
Oscar H. Allen, E. E. Bentley and Irving B. Farnum, aids. 



THE PARADE. I95 

Second regiment, Patriarchs Militant, under command of Col. Charles 
L. Fitzhenry. 

Battalion of letter-carriers under command of John Henry O'Brien. 
Members of the city government, ex-mayors and guests, in carriages. 
South Medford Republican Club in large automobile. 
Milk-maids. 

THIRD DIVISION. 

Medford Brass Band. 

Capt. Otto J. C. Neilson, chief of division ; Lieut. Thomas F. McGuine, 
chief of staff; E. B. Conant, F. W. Harris, G. Cummings, M, A. Red- 
ding, W. B. Bean, J. J. Nelson, J. J, Mulkem, F. H. Lovering, Charles 
Hall, J. M. Clark, F. W. Herritt, H. W. Johnson, R. Peterson, S. B. 
Hastings and A. W. Welch, aids. 

Medford Fire Department, Chief Charles E. Bacon commanding. 

Street, sewer and water departments, under command of John D. 
Dwyer, acting street commissioner. 

Arlington drum and fife corps. 

Peak's newsboys drawing small pony carriage, in which were seated 
Louise O'Brien, Dorothy Preston, Urania Peak. Newsboys, red jackets, 
white pants, bearing white silk flags representing papers sold by Peak. 

Medford Mercury barge of young ladies. 

J. M. Clark & Co., West Medford, three teams. 

J. C. Harris & Son, two teams. 

F. H. Lovering, West Medford, three teams. 

Littlefield, lumber dealer, five teams. 

Blanchard, Kendall & Co., lumber, twelve teams. 

New England Gas & Coke Co., two teams. 

J. E. Ober & Son, West Medford, five teams. 

Locke Coal Co., seven teams. 

Zinn, the florist, one team. 

Donoghue's express, one team. 

Mystic Valley Farm, two teams. 

Caldwell, spring water, one team. 

Creeden, mattresses, one team. 

J. A. Barnes, Hillside grocer, one team. 

Redding, West Medford grocer, one team. 

Maiden & Melrose Gas Co., six teams. 

Boston Store, one caravan. 

Metropolitan Laundry, one team. 



196 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

West Medford Market, one team. 

J. D. Dwyer, contractor, one team. 

L. Coyne, blacksmith, one team. 

Henry Center, one team. 

J. E. Dusseault, market, one team. 

C. H. Hunter, grocery and provisions, three teams. 

Maiden Electric Co., four teams. 

Boulevard Theatre, one team. 

W. A. Curtis, grocer, five teams. 

Good-Will Soap, one team. 

H. C. Spear, soda water, three teams. 

Roberton, baker, three teams. 



CANOE MEET 



CANOE MEET. 

The meet of the Eastern Division of the American Canoe Association 
was held today on Mystic Lake. This event was scheduled to be held 
on Lake Cochituate, but the transfer was made in order to add another 
feature to the 275th Anniversary progranmie. Nearly 2000 people were 
present at the sports. 

The events of the morning opened with a race for war canoes. In 
this were entered crews from the Medford Boat Club, the Wabewawa 
Boat Club of Auburndale, and the Quinneboquin Boat Club of Dedham. 
The race was won by Medford, with Wabewawa second and Quinne- 
boquin third. The time was 3m 23 2-5S. 

The one-man double-blade half-mile race followed, and was won by 
Stanwood of Wabewawa in 3m 41 4-5S. 

The next race, single, single-blade, was the feature. Arthur G. Ma- 
ther of the Medford Boat Club, who has held this honor for two years 
until last year, when illness prevented him from taking part in the event, 
again appeared in the contest and succeeded in regaining his lost honors, 
defeating A. S. Pratt of Wabewawa. The time was 4m 4-5S. 

The club fours, single-blades, was won by Quinneboquin over the half- 
mile course in 4m 9 2-5S. 

The half-mile for tandem double-blades was won by the Lawrence 
Canoe Club, with Wabewawa second. The time was 4m 2 1-5S. 

The half-mile race for single-blades, tandem, went to Medford, with 
Wabewawa second. The time was 4m 2-55. 

The club four doubles, half-mile, was won by the Lawrence Club, 
with Wabewawa second. The time was 3m 54s. 

The Medford Boat Club won the greatest number of points, thereby 
capturing the Eastern Division championship and the Schafifer Trophy. 

The members of the Association remained over Sunday as guests of 
the Medford Boat Club, camping on the shores of the lake. 



ATHLETIC SPORTS 



ATHLETIC SPORTS. 

Those interested in athletic sports found much enjoyment at Brooks 
Playstead, West Medford, on Saturday afternoon, the Committee on 
Athletics having provided a very attractive list of entries for the various 
events, which were witnessed by fully 2000 people. The prizes were 
gold, silver and bronze medals bearing the city seal, suspended by rib- 
bons of the national colors, and were awarded as follows: — 

100 yard dash, open, — Won by Daniel Sharp, Brookline H. S. ; Wil- 
liam Lawlor, Highlandville, second; W. D. Eaton, third. Time, 10 3-55. 

440 yard run, open, — Won by N. S. Ray, St. Alphonsus A. A.; J. 
McGuinness, East Boston A. A., second; T. H. Bickford, Somerville, 
third. Time, 53 3-5S. 

880 yard run, open, — Won by F. P. Sheehan, South Boston; S. C. 
Dickinson, Harvard A. A., second; L. G. Fay, Somerville, third. Time 
2m 6 3-5S. 

Mile run — Won by J. A. Murphy, Dorchester C. C. ; I. S. MacDonald, 
Medford H. S., second; T. F. Reardon, Cambridgeport Gymnasium, 
third. Time, 4m 46 4-5S. 

High jump — Won by L. C. Allen, Boston Y.M.C.A. (6 inches) height 
6 ft. I J inches ;H. A. Gidney, Maiden Y.M.C.A. (scratch) height 6 ft. fin. 
C. D. Robertson, East Boston A. A. (7 inches) and E. F. Crawford tied 
for third, height 6 ft. ^ in. Won on a toss by Robertson. 

Shot put— Won by B. C. Morrill, Boston Y.M.C.A. (7 feet) distance 
45 ft. 10 in. ; W. W. Coe, Somerville (scratch) second, distance 45 ft. 8 in. ; 
John F, Hughes, Medford (9 feet) third, distance 44 ft. 5 in. 

120 yard low hurdles — Won by C. D. Robertson, East Boston A. A.; 
Horace Taylor, Harvard, second; P. W. Page, BrookUne H. S., third. 
Time, 16 2-53. 

100 yard dash, closed — Won by J. A. Mather, Medford H. S. ; E. A. 
Bradlee, Lawrence Light Guard A. A., second; J. W. Williams, Jr., 
Lawrence Light Guard A. A., third. Time, iis. 

440 yard run, closed — Won by M. A. Coe, Technology; W. C. Atkin- 
son, Medford H. S., second; Kersey F. Coe, Medford H. S., third. Time, 
59 2-5S. 

880 yard run, closed — Won by Kersey F. Coe, Medford H. S. ; G. DeC. 
Chevaher, Medford H. S., second; Harold Bryan, Medford H. S., third. 
Time, 2m. 10 1-53. 



204 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Relay race — Two Medford High teams, second with 40 yards' handi- 
cap. Won by first team, Captain J. A. Mather, K. F. Coe, H. Perrins, 
G. DeC. Chevalier. Time, 3m 35 3-5S. 

Tug-of-war — Won by Forresters of America against Red Men. The 
winners were James Carney, James Garley, Michael Bresnahan and 
James Sullivan. 

The ofiicers in charge of the events were Herbert Hoi ton, B. A. A., 
manager; Henry Hodkins, assistant manager; Hugh McGrath, Charles- 
bank A.A., starter; B. B. Osthues, clerk of course ; Alfred Lill, St. Joseph 
A. A., field judge; John W. Hallowell, Harvard A. A., referee; Dr. Rich- 
ard F. Drake, West Medford, assistant clerk of course; Dr. C. C. Stroud 
of Tufts College, Sidney Peet of Andover A. A., and Fred Wood of B. A. 
A., timers. 

FIREWORKS. 

The day's celebration closed with a brilliant display of fireworks on 
the Common and a band concert, H. W. Treet, conductor. Rain fell 
during the evening, but the enthusiasm of those present was unabated 
and a great throng of people enjoyed the programme to its close. 



PROGRAM 

SUNDAY, JUNE i8, 1905. 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 
MASS MEETING AT OPERA HOUSE, EVENING. 




MINISTERS WHO OBSERVED ANNIVERSARY 
REV. CLARENCE L. EATON 

FIRST UNIVERSALIST CHURCH 



REV. SYLVESTER S. KLYNE 
WEST MEDFORD TRINITY M. E. CHURCH 



REV. GEORGE M. BUTLER 
MYSTIC CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 



REV. MAURICE A. LEVY 
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 



REV. BURT LEON YORKE 
WEST MEDFORD CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 

MYSTIC CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

By reason of the position occupied by the Mystic Church in Medford's 
history, it was thought to be fitting that, in connection with the city's 
anniversary exercises, some special service at the church be arranged. 
In planning for such a service, one's thoughts would naturally turn to the 
subject of music, for in the long history of this church it has been the 
custom to maintain an excellent choir. For this reason there have been 
secured many singers who in later years have gained prominence in musi- 
cal circles in and about Boston. The effort to bring these singers to- 
gether in a service which should be in effect a choir reunion met with a 
cordial and courteous response, with the result that on the afternoon of 
June 1 8th a choir of twenty singers was gathered, a choir that for excel- 
lence and prominence of its individual members has probably never been 
surpassed in Medford. 

The musical program of some seven numbers which was rendered 
proved a revelation and a treat to lovers of good music that will not soon 
be forgotten, and it is only to be regretted that such singers cannot oftener 
be brought together. 

The pastor, Rev. George M. Butler, delivered an address, taking for 
his subject "Music and Morals. " 

ADDRESS BY REV. GEORGE M. BUTLER. 

Some years ago a friend of mine and myself started one brilliant Italian 
morning for a tramp along the ancient and famous Appian Way, which 
stretches in its present excavation from the Gate of San Sebastian at 
Rome ten miles toward Capua. Along that never-to-be-forgotten road 
we trudged in the white glare of the ItaUan sunshine, with the magnifi- 
cent prospect constantly before us of the Campagna, the ruins of the 
ancient Aqueducts, the distant mountains, while on either side of the 
road were the ancient tombs and other relics of that mighty past civili- 
zation. Finally we came to the Catacombs of St. Calixtus, those well 
known subterranean burial places of the early Christian era. Guided 
by a brown-frocked monk of the Trappist order, we descended into the 
burial chambers. Along the narrow passages we went, our way lighted 
but dimly by slender wax tapers which each of us carried, and which 



2o8 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

seemed to me to be in constant danger of extinction, leaving us lost there 
in those darksome caverns. At last we stopped at that Mecca of every 
Calixtus tourist, the reputed burial place of Saint Cecilia, and heard from 
our guide a bit of her story as we wended our way back to the upper 
light. Not much of that story is it my purpose here to relate. Suffice 
it to say that she was a noble Roman lady, said to have lived in the reign 
of the Emperor Alexander Severus. At an early age she became a Chris- 
tian, and was remarkable for her enthusiastic piety. Chiefly also she 
excelled in music, and turned her gift to the glory of God, composing 
hymns and singing them with great sweetness. She played on all in- 
struments then known, but none sufficing to breathe forth fully the flood 
of harmony that was in her soul, and is said to have invented the organ, 
consecrating it to the service of God. The story of this Roman lady, so 
pious and so gifted, is told at length in early church records. Enough 
to say, that remaining loyal to her religious faith her talents were not able 
to save her from persecution, and she was finally executed by the sword. 
Her body was laid in the cemetery of St. Calixtus, from which, centuries 
later, it was taken and placed in the Church of St. Cecilia in Trastevere. 

Now, how or when it came about we do not know, but in due time, 
already canonized, Ceciha came also to be regarded as the patron saint 
of music, and in music, poetry and painting she has been so heralded. 
On the twenty-second day of each November, St. Cecilia's Day is ob- 
served by Catholic Europe. On that day the catacombs of St. Calixtus 
are illuminated. For this fete day, some of the great musical produc- 
tions were first created, notably masses by such composers as Adolphe 
Adam, Gounod and Ambroise Thomas. Men like Spohr and Haupt- 
mann composed works in honor of the day, and most of all Haydn's 
great CeciUa Mass was so created. 

In poetry, odes have been written by Dryden, Shadwell, Congreve and 
Alexander Pope, of English writers; in painting, artists of skill and re- 
nown, from Cimabue down, have vied with one another to represent the 
Saint CeciUa and her relation to music. Of these the greatest work is 
Raphael's noble painting in the gallery at Bologna. But now of all the 
portrayals and tributes paid the name of this early Christian by the com- 
poser of music, the poet and the painter it is most notable to find an em- 
phasis on two great facts. The first is the everywhere assumed relation 
of the art of Saint Cecilia to the perfection of her moral character. The 
second is the relation of that same art — the art of music — to some larger 
harmony in the universe itself. Each contributor has impressed these 
facts either by his note, his pen or his brush. Among the general ex- 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 20Q 

^mples of this is the character of the Mass created by Haydn. It is so 
purely conceived, so simply and grandly executed, so free from the ex- 
travagances and mediocrities of much other so-called sacred music as if 
the composer himself felt the call of his subject upon his art to as fine and 
pure a product as the character of that subject was. The composer felt 
that because Cecilia was so good, her own music and all music dedicated 
to her name must be pre-eminently good. A minor example of what I 
have specifically stated of the relation of the musical art of the saint to 
some larger harmony in the universe is seen in the odes of Dryden and 
Pope. The former compares CeciHa's art with that of the classic Or- 
pheus. Orpheus indeed by his lyre could cause men, trees, rocks and 
other objects to leave their places and follow him. But Cecilia played 
her organ notes and 

"An angel heard and straight appeared, 
Mistaking earth for heaven !' ' 

So Pope, in similar manner, said of the saint, that while Orpheus 
raised a shade from hell, she could lift the soul to heaven. So pure was 
the character and the art together that each touched the larger universe 
above, is the thought of each poet; but perhaps the best example of 
this fact which I have stated is to be found illustrated through the paint- 
er's brush, as Raphael saw and portrayed it. You are familiar with that 
painting of St. Cecilia in the Bologna gallery. Raphael has pictured 
the saint standing in the midst of four, with her face upturned to heaven 
Paul, John the Disciple, Mary Magdalene, and St. Augustine are the 
four. Ceciha holds in her hand the organ upon which she has been play- 
mg. At her feet are scattered various instruments of music. They are 
broken and even some of the pipes of the regal held by the Saint are 
falling from their places, seeming to indicate the inferiority of earthly 
music to the celestial. But Raphael portrays above the scene an angel 
choir. That choir has taken up the harmony begun by Ceciha, and 
carried it on to a nobler beauty and completion, while the saint herself 
who could thus invoke this heavenly response, stands enraptured' 
listening to that more perfect harmony of the celestial choir. 

Now, then, friends, it is this theme which, in this eventful hour listen- 
ing to the special and splendid music of the choir today, seems to me to 
be worthy of our thought. Music and Morals-the relation of any 
perfect art, like music, to moral character. What does it mean? It 
seems to me two things must be said, and these are of the nature of ad- 
missions. The first is that talent is alwavs necessary to perfect art 



2IO TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

This is almost a truism. It is not enough that your poet, your painter, 
your musician, be a good man. He must also have in him that living 
spirit of the true artist which can rightly feel, see and create. In the 
different realms of art, talent as well as character is needed. That is a 
first admission. A second one is that Art, in itself considered, is neither 
moral nor unmoral. It is not a medium of expression or translation. 
The moral qualities, or unmoral, are in the being of the translator. Yet 
with these admissions there still remains one great fact, it seems to me, 
today. And that is that always and everywhere moral character put 
into art, plus the necessary other conditions, means a far finer art. So 
that your good man, be he poet, painter or musician, given talent, ought 
to be, must be, a better artist because of his moral character. And why ? 
Simply because there is, as I have already suggested, this intrinsic rela- 
tion of all perfect art to some larger harmony in the universe. Let me 
illustrate this fact. Take music again. Not long ago a famous singer 
sang through a membrane into a chemical solution. Upon the impact of 
her tones that solution took on the form of beautiful crystals, suggesting 
the intimate relation of the beauty of tone vibrations to beautiful form in 
the larger area of physical nature. The bow of a violin drawn over 
strings, beneath which are iron filings, is capable of arranging these 
filings into fair and interesting geometric figures. Take it in science. 
Our engineers and constructors, in laying a steel bridge, keep in mind a 
well known fact that certain vibrations, such as might be produced by 
discordant sounds, can set in motion and thereby even weaken the strong- 
est spans of the bridge, suggesting again the relation of sound waves to 
the structural nature of objects which they environ. In a word, you see, 
there is this relation of subordinate parts to the collective worth of the 
whole. 

Now, then, I beg you to see the simple yet great thought that is before 
us. Unite these facts that I have suggested, and what do we find ? That 
is it. The great Heart of the Universe is Goodness with Perfection, and 
therefore the nearer that Heart we are, the nearer to perfection comes 
the form of expression, of whatever sort that expression may be. So 
that it must be eternally true, for instance, that the bad man cannot 
really write good poetry, the best poetry, — spiritual, enduring, influential. 
And your Byrons with their lower moral standards, must in the end, as 
they do, give way to your Tennysons and Brownings. Neither can art 
proclaim as its true rule of action, "art for art's sake," simply showing 
things as they are; rather must its rule be "art for man's sake," art for 
idealism, and for all nobler reaches than are at present attained unto, 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 211 

showing things as they ought to be and may be. Therefore to what shall 
we always invite our singers who so charm and inspire us with all human 
reverence and deep purpose ? To this, I think, namely that the better 
the men and the women, the better the song, the more perfect the art, 
the completer the touch with some universal harmony! And hence, that 
which I suppose must be the aim of every singer, the more sure the im- 
pression on every listening ear. Finally what shall we say of all our 
culture — something fitting to be said in connection with an anniversary 
like this, covering 275 years of community life? This, I think: That 
to all culture and civic growth there must be linked moral character to 
give it permanent and highest worth. 

FIRST UNIVERSALIST CHURCH. 

The morning service was appropriate to the celebration of the anni- 
versary of the city. Cards of invitation had been sent to non-resident 
members and former friends of the church, and the congregation was 
increased by a number of visitors from out of town. The Rev. Edward 
L. Houghton of Cambridge occupied the pulpit with the pastor and as- 
sisted in the service. 
The church choir 

Mrs. Alice R. Morrison, soprano. 

Miss Helen Griswold, alto, 

Mr. Louis Dow, tenor, 

Mr. George S. Cutler, bass, 

rendered special music. The sermon was delivered by the pastor, the 
Rev. Clarence L. Eaton. 

"the RELIGIOUS LITE OF NEW ENGLAND." 

And what shall I more say ? For the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, 
Barak, Samson, Jephtah; of David and Samuel and the prophets: who 
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained prom- 
ises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped 
the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty 
in war, turned to flight the armies of aliens. ******** 

And these all having had witness borne to them through their faith, 
received not the promise. God having provided some better thing con- 
cerning us, that they apart from us should not be made perfect. Hebrews 

xi:32, 33. 34, 39, 4o. 

We know not whether Paul or some one else wrote these words. The 
writer whosoever he may have been was one of those early Christians 



212 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

who lived some time after the death of Jesus, and who perceived that the 
Jewish people had entered upon a new religious dispensation. To his 
• mind the Christian era was more than a development, an outgrowth of 
the Jewish era. With the coming of Christ, the world had gained a 
wider and a higher vision, such as to give a distinctly new character to its 
religious thought. The faithful of pre-Christian days were to see their 
reward and the fulfillment of their work in this age. "They received 
not the promise," says our writer, "God having provided some better 
things concerning us." 

This morning I desire to speak to you concerning "The Religious Life 
of New England,' ' and I have chosen this passage from Hebrews because 
of the parallels between its thought and that of our consideration. Sub- 
stitute for those Old Testament characters some of the leading clergy of 
early New England, WiUiam Brewster, John Eliot, Roger Williams, 
Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Hooker, and others, for the mention of 
whose names time would fail us, and we might truly say of them, "that 
through faith they subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, from 
weakness were made strong and that they received not the promise. God 
having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us 
they should not be made perfect." 

In its bare outline, the religious history of Medford is simple. For 
many years after its first settlement the town appears to have been too 
small and poor to support a resident permanent pastor. Tutors from 
Harvard College were sometimes hired to preach, or ministers resident 
in other towns were secured as occasional supplies. That this was by 
no means a period of religious indifference, there is many an evidence. 

The first settled pastor was ordained in 17 13. From that date until 
1822, a period of one hundred and nine years, there were but three pas- 
tors in Medford, each of them ordained to the office of the Christian 
ministry in the Medford meetinghouse, each of them continuing as pas- 
tor or pastor emeritus until his death. Aaron Porter was pastor for nine 
years; Ebenezer Turrell, for fifty years, and David Osgood, for forty- 
eight years. All three of these men seem to have been highly respected, 
especially Dr. Osgood, whose nature sweetened and ripened with the 
years, and who, though ministering to a growing number of individuals 
differing from his views, retained the love and respect of all his congre- 
gation. These one hundred and nine years between 17 13 and 1822 were 
the days of one church, and the whole town was the legitimate field of 
labor or the parish of the minister. The minister's salary was a matter 
of public vote, and the whole town was taxed for the support of the 
church. 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 213 

The church in those days had its practical and temporal problems to 
solve, not essentially different from those which concern our parish 
trustees or ladies' societies, and yet enough different to sound in the nar- 
ration of them very quaint and interesting. Those were the days when 
the minister catechised the children, and he was not always a welcome 
visitor in the home. The Bible was then the book of life, and the laymen 
were thoroughly conversant with its teachings; while its precepts had 
such binding force that juries trying a case in court gave great weight to 
citations from its pages. 

Medford was to see presently days of a different religious temper. 
When David Osgood was made pastor in 1774, six gentlemen protested 
against his coming, though afterwards loyally supported him when the 
majority insisted that he should come. The influence of John Wesley, 
the founder of Methodism, had begun to count here in Medford. These 
six men could not agree with the new pastor when he said that man is not 
free to choose between good and evil. Forty-eight years later, when 
Dr. Osgood died, not only Methodism, but Unitarianism and Universal- 
ism were gaining ground. Those who differed from Dr. Osgood were 
now in the majority, and chose for his successor a man of their own views. 
The First Parish Church thus became Unitarian. Those who clung to 
the older theology now withdrew to found the Second Congregational 
Church, or, as they afterwards named themselves, the First Trinitarian 
Congregational Church. Thenceforth the religious history of Medford 
is the history of an increasing number of churches. 

The second church in Medford was organized in 1823; the Methodist 
Church, in 1828; this Universalist Church, in 183 1 ; the Baptist Church, in 
1841 ; the Mystic Church in 1847, ^^^ ^^e Grace Episcopal Church, in 
1848. By the year 1850 seven church edifices had been erected for the 
worship of God in the vicinity of Medford Square. In the thirty years 
preceding, Medford had grown very rapidly, the great development of 
the ship building industry bringing an influx of people, such that our 
population grew from 1474 in 1820 to 3749 in 1850. 

There was a deeper reason than the growth in population for the in- 
crease in the number of churches from one to seven. Those thirty years 
were marked by a greatly deepened interest in rehgion. Methodism, 
UniversaUsm, and Unitarianism had begun to strike telling blows at the 
old Calvinism. Hosea BaUou who had been speaking a message of power 
since the very dawn of the century, was still a man to be reckoned with. 
William EUery Channing and Theodore Parker for the Unitarians; 
Horace Bushnell for the Congregationalists, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, 



214 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

who belongs to all liberals, in those years which saw Medford churches 
grow from one to seven, were voicing the new notes in rehgious thought 
which today are fast becoming the dominant ones. With this growth 
in the number of sects, a new era in the religious life of New England is 
ushered in. 

It is a long way from the simple rude church built in Plymouth in 162 1 
to Trinity Church and Tremont Temple of modern Boston. So is it a 
long way from the theological conceptions of our forefathers to the most 
advanced religious ideas of today. Our modern religious thought is 
simpler, more human, more vitally ethical, less concerned with abstract 
and abstruse theological problems. The men of two centuries ago 
thought of themselves as creatures altogether helpless before the unalter- 
able decrees of God, We think of ourselves as children of God endowed 
with the power of growth into the divine. I need not elaborate. You 
prize and rejoice in our modern conceptions of our relation to the Infinite 
Being. I desire the rather to have you appreciate how valuable a con- 
tribution to our New England manhood was made by the rehgious con- 
ceptions dominant here in New England, dominant here in Medford for 
200 years. 

Rehgious life did not flow altogether smoothly in olden days. New 
England was fortunate in her early settlers. They were men who for 
the most part came here for pohtical reasons ; but they were men of deep 
conviction, men of sterhng worth, many of them men of education and 
large abiUty. Their children were their children. But the problems of 
the second and third generations were essentially different from those of 
the first settlers. Further, the pioneer life was rough and hearty, and 
there was a tendency to lose something of the spirit of refinement which 
the first comers from England brought. Wars with the Indians came 
and then war with the allied French and Indians, and war alv/ays has a 
coarsening influence. Life underwent considerable transformation as 
time progressed. 

It was natural that men's interest in that which pertained to the wel- 
fare of their souls should vary from decade to decade. We read of a 
number of religious revivals at intervals through the history of New Eng- 
land, notably of one about 1670 or 1680, and of the great awakening of 
the early part of the i8th century, culminating with the several visits of 
George Whitefield, under whose magic eloquence thousands joined the 
Christian church. 

To the casual reader of the annals of those times, especially of the 
annual election sermons preached before the State legislatures, it might 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 



215 



seem that there was great need of these religious quickenings. But such 
would be a superficial judgment. The old time preaching was condem- 
natory and not appreciative in its temper; and while there was no doubt 
an occasional relaxation in moral earnestness and lessening of religious 
interest, our New England forefathers were men essentially true to con- 
viction, and New England life was never in any real sense degenerate. 
Certainly it was far higher and nobler in its ethical tone than that of old 
England, where the regenerating work of John Wesley and his Methodist 
followers was so greatly needed. The pulpit warnings of those days are 
evidences to us of the high conscientiousness of her moral leaders. The 
sturdy virtues, the sense of justice and righteousness of our early Puritan 
fathers descended upon their children, and were stimulated by the char- 
acter of the message delivered from New England pulpits. 

During the nearly two hundred years that elapsed between the settle- 
ment of Plymouth and the ushering in of the modern liberal rehgious 
movement, a type of thought was developed which has since become 
known as the New England theology. We cannot attempt to elaborate 
it today. It was a modification of Calvinism, and while diflferent preach- 
ers interpreted differently, the variations were of such a character as 
rather to stimulate interest than to promote ruptures. The theology of 
the more conservative churches today is a much softened form of that 
which those who once dwelt among our hills were accustomed to hear. 
To us as we look back it seems as though that harsh theology were cal- 
culated to promote resentment and irreverence. By those who are not 
well disposed, any theory of life is habie to be used to justify vicious con- 
duct. We may make religion natural and reasonable today, and some 
thereby are content and think themselves justified in conduct that exalts 
the physical at the expense of the spiritual. 

The men of early New England took their religion seriously. Today 
heresy has become orthodox. Then heresy was not in good repute. To 
question the generally accepted views of life and God was to question 
God himself. When the preacher said : God has destined some to eternal 
life and some to eternal punishment, and His decrees are inscrutable and 
everything which He does is for His own glory, few if any in the congre- 
gation ever questioned the truth of that which was thus spoken. And 
there was many a noble soul who under the influence of that teaching 
was ready to resign himself to whatsoever fate God had prepared for him 
if thereby God would be glorified. Such a surrender of the soul evidences 
a high degree of consecration; and just so far as the old theology tended 
to produce that spirit it was a mighty force in deepening and spirituaHz- 
ing character. 



21 6 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

This Stricter Calvinism was sometimes modified. Then men were 
told that salvation was still entirely of God; that He alone could save. 
Yet earnest prayer and zeal in virtue would make it more probable that a 
man would be saved. Now, our seriously minded ancestors took these 
words home to themselves and we may imagine what deep strivings with- 
in and what earnest prayers resulted. When Calvinism was still farther 
modified as it was by Methodism, and it was taught that salvation de- 
pended entirely on one's self, and the appeal was made for young and 
old so to live that the saving grace of God might be known in the heart 
and escape be made from an eternal doom, in many a fair maiden or 
earnest man of the world a most worthy response was evoked. The 
type of virtue developed under this preaching was to a certain extent vm- 
natural ; but a most desirable result was the development of a sense of the 
terribleness of sin. To us today sin is apt to be simply that which in- 
terferes with our personal welfare or that of our neighbor. To our an- 
cestors, sin was an offence against Almighty God and endangered one's 
eternal welfare. We need to realize today that sin is something more 
than an interference with our temporal welfare and is spiritually degrad- 
ing. The preaching of New England for nearly two hundred years 
continuously sounded these notes of appeal, and by that preaching there 
was inwrought into successive generations a worth of character, a sense 
of accountability to God and an appreciation of the viciousness of sin 
which we pray God may never depart from us. 

We live in a new rehgious era. If there is any one year marking the 
division between the new and the old, for Medford that year is 1823, 
when the First Parish became Unitarian, and a second church was 
planted on the banks of the Mystic. The new era sees the Deity as an 
ever-present, animating, imminent Spirit, and predicts for man a spiritual 
destiny richer and larger than our forefathers dared to dream. We need 
to preserve the earnest prayerfulness, the sense of the awfulness of sin 
and the deep spirit of consecration which belonged to our fathers as a 
foundation upon which to build the noble, larger and more natural man- 
hood of our later conception. 

The student of New England's history is impressed with the fact that 
slowly were our fathers impressed with the value of and prepared to 
accept democratic institutions. May it not have been, is it not true, 
that all those years between the exodus from England and the beginning 
of the liberal movement in theology were needed to develop the fine type 
of conscientious and consecrated manhood and womanhood which has 
been one of the marked excellencies of our New England life ? I for one 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 21 7 

count it not unfortunate that there still lingers in our midst something 
of the religious atmosphere of those earlier days to develop amongst us 
some of its spectral Christian virtues. Wherever you see a maiden anx- 
ious about her moral welfare, or a youth cherishing noble ideals, or adult 
men and women living true to their best, forget not to thank the Master 
of men, and forget not either to thank our New England ancestors who 
wrought something of the spirit of Jesus into the very blood of the nation. 
The narrowness and bigotry of our Puritan ancestors were faults hav- 
ing some justification in the political exigencies of the time, and yet too 
great to be altogether excused. The sterling qualities of those men we 
need to cultivate in this gentle age of larger reasoning and more com- 
plicated interests. Our age will not be true to its genius unless it makes 
their conscientiousness and their spirit of consecration its own, and upon 
that foundation builds a larger manhood, wider in its sympathies and 
higher in its spiritual aspiration. 

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 

This church entered heartily into the various features of the general 
celebration, especially that portion of its membership whose memory 
extended over several decades. In its patriotic display of bunting at 
the entrance to Oakland Street a panel was inserted, on which was in- 
scribed, "First Baptist Church, 1841-1905." 

On Anniversary Sunday a large and expectant audience assembled 
and beheld, upon the pulpit platform, four of its pastors, and listened to 
the reading of a communication from the one other living pastor, who 
was unable to be present. These honored men were Rev. George M. 
Preston, who had linked all hearts to him by a service of ten years from 
1858 to 1868, and who since 1897 has given sympathy and counsel to the 
church as a resident pastor; Rev, James P. Abbott, D.D., the loved and 
efl&cient leader for twenty years fromli878 to 1898 ; Rev. Henry C. Graves, 
D.D., whose kind heart and rare talents were at the service of the church 
in 1900-1901, and the youthful and highly esteemed present pastor. Rev. 
Maurice A. Levy, The letter above referred to was from Rev. Millard 
F, Johnson, of Nashua, N, H. 

Mr. William E, Crosby, organist and chorister for many years, ren- 
dered selections well suited to the time. 

All the ministers shared in the program of the morning, Dr. Abbott 
making the chief address. This was mostly reminiscent in nature. 

A liberal recess was then taken, during which a most hearty reunion 
was enjoyed. Many of the audience then went into the Bible School 



2l8 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

session in the vestry. Here the usual lessons were laid aside in favor 
of those who could speak of the earlier days of the Sunday School. Mr. 
Elisha B. Curtis presided, and after briefly outUning the history of the 
religious life in this ancient town, and giving dates of the organization 
of the various churches that exist today, he showed a class book in which 
there was a leaf bearing date of June, 185 5 — exactly fifty years ago. The 
teacher, Capt. James Porter, and the dozen boys of the class were each 
commented upon. Three of the number died in the Civil War, Sergeant 
Samuel Stevens, Tyler Newcomb and Isaac J. Hatch, Jr. 

Mr, Arthur G. Smith, a boy in the Sunday School of that period, was 
then introduced. After going about the world extensively in the inter- 
vening years, he had come back to take a hand in the celebration, and 
he unveiled many brilliantly tinted pictures on memory's walls, describ- 
ing among other things a picnic of the Sunday School, when his father 
was its superintendent, which was conveyed in two boats on the Middle- 
sex Canal to the then famous Bacon's grove in Winchester. There were 
six persons present who remembered having participated in that unique 
outing. 

Mr. William H. Cummings, whose name was also on the class book 
with Mr, Curtis', was called to the front and spoke not only for himself 
but in behalf of his wife and her sister, Mrs, Clapp, who were brought 
up in the Sunday School and church, being daughters of the late beloved 
Deacon James Peirce. Mr. Cummings referred to two young men of 
the Sunday School who had chosen the gospel ministry as a calling, 
George Howell, a protege of Capt. Porter, and Walter W. Hammond, 
who received a most flattering call from Brooklyn, N. Y,, immediately 
upon leaving the theological institution. 

Rev. Mr. Preston followed in his usual happy vein, adding facts of 
interest to what had already been said. 

Mrs. J. M. G, Plummer then read lines written for the occasion and 
designed to be commemorative of the Baptist past in Medford. 

"the medford first baptist church." 

When from far distant climes there came 
Across the seas a Pilgrim band, 
They looked on Medford's hills and plains, 
And deemed this spot their "promised land." 
They tilled their acres, worshipped God, 
And lived like true men, brave and good; 
And here and there, as time went on, 
Amid the flock a Baptist stood. 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 

In '41, twelve of this band 

Of Baptist brethren, sisters too, 

Joined heart and hand, a church was formed, 

And grew in grace, in numbers grew. 

Of pastors wise, of brethren dear, 

Many loved names its pages show. 

Many have soared to realms above; 

And many still walk here below. 

Young Bosworth, Fuller, Keely, too, 

All reverend men and brave of heart, 

Served well this little church and urged 

On all to choose the better part. 

In later days, though now lang syne, 
There came a young man, Preston named ;— 
His wife stood with him, tall and fair,— 
Proudly the church their Pastor claimed. 

Anon war's rude alarms rang loud, 
While for their country brave men died. 
Young Newcomb poured his Ufe-blood out. 
Of those who then marched side by side, 
From out our church and Sunday School, 
Beneath Old Glory's folds to fight. 
That Liberty o'er all might reign 
And all men walk in Freedom's light, 
Nor delve in unrequited toil. 
There stand but two to greet us now, — 
Brave Francis Lander, Daniel Ells. 
The almond blossoms crown their brow; 
And still their trust is in their God, 
And well they love His holy laws, 
As in that day when manhood's strength 
They pledged t' uphold their country's cause. 
When white robed Peace her pinions spread 
From North to South our country o'er, 
They prayed their God to speed the day 
When nations shall learn war no more. 

To this dear Church there came a time — 
A glad, a bright, and joyous hour, — 



219 



220 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

When souls with God's great love were filled, 

And owned the Spirit's gracious power. 

Then fathers, mothers, children, too, 

And youth and age together vied 

To tell the power of Jesus' love 

And speak of Him, the Crucified. 

We love to think of days so dear, 

And scenes that beckon from the past, 

On Medford's Anniversary Day 

A backward glance erstwhile to cast. 

We see the old Church, loved so well, — 

"The Meeting-house" of other days, — 

We hear again from other lips 

The song, the prayer, the word of praise. 

We see the new Church, builded well. 
Our Brother Brown the guiding hand. 
And joy is felt on every side 
When all complete its firm walls stand. 

Though faces once familiar there 
Smile on us nevermore again. 
We know they wait for us above, 
And feel nor grief, nor woe, nor pain. 

Not backward would we always look; — 
And on this Anniversary Day, 
In the dim aisles where dwells the past 
Our footsteps may not longer stay. 

We praise our God that still remain 
Some dear ones of the long ago; 
We praise Him, too, that all the way 
His goodness and His truth we'll know. 
For all the good of former years. 
For all the joys that bless us now. 
We thank and praise His precious name. 
Our wiUing hearts in reverence bow. 

God bless him who in days long past. 
When strife and bloodshed filled the land. 
Guarded this flock, and kept his faith 
In God's ways — hard to understand. 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 221 

And now, in his declining years, 
We pray that God will be his stay, 
And every hour with him abide, 
Though he from us be far away. 

For him who for a score of years 
Allured "to Heaven and led the way," 
We give God thanks and joy that we 
May look upon his face today. 
For twenty years he served this Church, 
Then heard the cry of "Westward, Ho!" 
To press his hand, to hear his voice. 
Makes kindly hearts with rapture glow. 
We thank God for our brother good. 
Of pleasant ways, on Pleasant Street, 
Who loves with quiet, gentle tone 
The stranger and the guest to greet. 

We thank our God that good men, true, 
Fair Medford, all these years, has known; 
And of them some have walked with us. 
And in this Church their light has shone. 

We thank Him for the dear ones now, — 
For him, our Pastor, young and brave, 
Who points us to the Better Land, 
And tells of Him, who died to save. 

For workers all, for all who cheer 
Each other's hearts and strive for truth, 
For those who've worn the armor long. 
For those "who bear the yoke in youth." 

When years two hundred more have passed, 
And seventy-five have added been. 
May earnest hearts still gather here, 
In praise of victories truth shall win. 
And so, perchance, there still shall stand. 
With fairer walls and loftier dome, 
A monument of these same days, — 
A place of rest, a Sabbath Home. 



222 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

So long as Time shall walk the earth, 
So long as men dwell here below, 
May Medford men and women come 
And gather here the world to show 
How Baptist truth and faith and love 
Make all the flowers of youth more bright, 
And all the wreaths that crown the brows 
Of riper years, to glow with light 
Of hope and charity and zeal, — 
Those precious gems, those fairest flowers, 
That bless this earth, — most beauteous thingss 
That bourgeon in this world of ours. 

WEST MEDFORD CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

Extracts relating to the 275th Anniversary from the Baccalaureate 
Sermon preached by the Rev. Burt Leon Yorke of the Congregational 
Church, West Medford, to the graduating class of the Medford High 
School, Sunday, A.M., June 18, 1905. 

Text: John xii, 26: "If any man serve me, let him follow me." 

Theme: "The Call for Character in Service." 

For the past few days our city has given loyal and commendable and 
fitting expression to the fact that, as a settled community, we have passed 
the 275th milestone in the march and the making of Medford history. 
That our history as a community goes far back into the early days of the 
settlement of New England, and is an indelible part of our national life, 
is strikingly realized when we know that we have only to add a decade 
to our own two and three-quarters centuries to make the years include 
the historic landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth Rock. What 
this history is need not be rehearsed here today, for you have been told 
in poem and ode and oration, in silver speech, illustrated press and en- 
during tablet. For today, the closing one of this anniversary season, 
this Lord's Day, the people are met in their many churches at this hour, 
and will meet together as one body this evening to give emphasis to the 
religious side of Medford's history. 

For those of us gathered within these walls this morning, there comes 
the additional privilege and the increased pleasure of saying a good word 
and bidding God-speed to this graduating class of the Medford High 
School which goes forth on this most auspicious and celebrated occasion 
of the city's 275th Anniversary. Because of this coincidence of your 
graduation and Medford's celebration, you are henceforth a distinguished 
class, even if you never do another thing. 



SPEaAL CHURCH SERVICES- 223 

One hundred and thirty years and two months ago this very day, 
which was almost the middle point between the date of founding and 
this present date of anniversary celebration of Medford, there occurred 
that memorable midnight ride of Paul Revere, who galloped along this 
very highway arousing the villagers by his call to arms. That day of 
war's alarms has passed long since. We are at peace today with all the 
world, aye, and are even in the role of the peacemaker today between 
Japan and Russia, aiding in settling the most disastrous war of modern 
times. The call today, however, that echoes through these streets and 
the thoroughfares of our country is not a call to arms; it is instead a call 
to good citizenship; a call to helpful service; a call to true and noble 
character; a call not one whit less glorious or worthy than the call to arms ; 
a call that is not for a war of seven or eight years, but a call to a life-long 
struggle. The call to this struggle comes not from a Paul Revere as he 
rides for parts of two days through a few villages of a nation just aborn- 
ing, great as that event was ; but this call comes from none other than the 
Christ himself, who has been riding ever more victoriously through nine- 
teen hundred years, arousing people of all climes and of every nation to 
the struggle spiritual. This is the call I wish to sound to you today, 
members of the Class of 1905; and my text is a part of the 26th verse of 
the 12th chapter of the Gospel according to John, "If any man serve me, 
let him follow me." The call for character in service, then, is the thought 
I would bring home to you on this important day in your own and Med- 
ford's life. 

TRINITY METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

At Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, West Medford, a special an- 
niversary service was held, according to announcement, as follows: — 

Organ voluntary, Mr. Gerry Henderson, Organist. 

Anthem, "Bonum Est," in A flat. Buck. 

Mr. Malcolm Brown, Tenor. 
Quartette Miss Charlotte PhiUips, Soprano. 

Miss Blanche F. Thompson, Alto. 

Mr. Wilham E. Vandell, Bass. 
Prayer. 

Hymn 1097, "O Lord our Fathers oft Have Told." 
Responsive Reading, Psalm 96. 

"Gloria Patri." 

Offering and Announcements. 
Anthem, "Te Deum" in F, Kotszchmar. 



224 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

Introductory Address, Rev. S. S. Klyne. 

Address, " The City Historic,' ' Mr. Moses W. Mann. 

Hymn 871, "Great is the Lord our God." 
Address, "The Church," Mr. Nelson Taylor. 

Hymn 1089, "My Country 'tis of Thee." 
Benediction. 
Organ Postlude. 

The prayer of Pastor Klyne was significant in its acknowledgment of 
Divine guidance in the city's past, and an earnest petition for help and 
direction in all that makes for civic righteousness in the future. 

In a few well chosen remarks upon the appropriateness of the anni- 
versary exercises of the week, he introduced the speakers of the occasion 
as men who had been long resident in Medford and identified with the 
work of Trinity Church in the city. 

Mr. Taylor, a veteran of the Civil War spoke for twenty minutes upon 
the church as of Divine institution, adapted to the needs of humanity; 
and, after reciting briefly the history of the local church, urged upon his 
hearers the claims of the church at large for their consideration, closing 
with an inspiring picture of the glories of the church in its final triumph, 
(quoting often from St. John the Divine), and a positive expression of his 
expectation of participating therein. It is to^be regretted that, as the 
speaker had no written preparation, no verbatim report can be presented 
of his address. 

** the city historic" 

BY MOSES WHITCHER MANN. 

When St. Paul stood before the Roman governor to make his defence, 
he made it in no equivocal terms; he avowed his religious belief; he de- 
clared his citizenship, and paid a compliment to the place of his nativity, 
by saying that he was "a citizen of no mean city." 

During the past week, Medford has celebrated her natal day; her sons 
and daughters have gathered from afar to renew old associations, to 
strengthen old friendships, and to make new friends ; the city has bade 
them welcome. In various ways, along different lines appealing to 
varied tastes, the Anniversary has been commemorated and this holy day 
with the Sabbath services in the eighteen churches of the city, forms a 
benediction, of which the general gathering this evening at Medford 
Square will be the Amen. 

While we of Trinity Church gather today as is our wont as worshippers 
— Episcopal Methodists, rather Methodist EpiscopaUans, a part of the 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 22$ 

holy, catholic Church, — let us not forget that we are citizens, American 
citizens of this ancient Commonwealth, citizens of Medford, — citizens 
of no mean city. We have well done in these memorial days to speak 
well and lovingly of our city of Medford, this ancient town. Two hun- 
dred and seventy-five years is a long time, and in it some of the best of 
this world's history has been made, its greatest and noblest achievements 
wrought. Eight generations of men and women have been born in Med- 
ford, have lived and labored and passed away, and yet the place is Med- 
ford still — no mean city — for twenty thousand people call it by the dear- 
est name of home. 

St. Paul might have said: I am a Jew; I was born in Tarsus, a com- 
mercial city, a great city, a grand city. And cities grander, greater and 
with more trade and wealth might have looked with disdain upon Tarsus 
and St. Paul's respect for it. So he gives his native place this unique 
distinction: — no mean city. To him it was out of the catalogue of the 
low, the base, the unpatriotic, and among the best, the truest, the noblest. 

What makes the town, the city, the state, good, clean, progressive, 
desirable to live in, well kept and well governed ? We answer: First of 
all and mainly, its people. Who and what the people are and do, is what 
makes the city, for ours is a government of the people, by the people and 
for the people. The divine right of Kings to rule obtains not here. 
"Our rulers themselves are our own fellow men. 
Who can handle the scythe, the sword or the pen." 

And so I say today as St. Paul said so long ago, and with something 
of the same pride, "A citizen of no mean city." 

I cannot speak of Medford as my native town, nor yet as the home of 
my school days, or of earliest manhood ; but it is a pleasant recollection 
that one June day, thirty-five years ago, (and how the years have flown), 
I came to Medford to Uve, and because this good book says that it is not 
good for man to be alone, I brought another Mann with me; and over 
here, only a few rods away, we made our home. Our neighbors were 
few, for the village was small; but they were good neighbors and good 
citizens of the good old town, as we called it then. I enjoy in these later 
days, from the tower on yonder height, to look upon this western section 
that has multiplied itself by ten since that June day. And also to look 
toward the other portions of the city, also grown, but not in such a ratio ^ 
and remember the old acquaintances in the old town, and brethren and 
sisters in the old church, for Trinity is the second of Medford's four 
Methodist Episcopal Churches. And in thus looking over this scene of 



226 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

rare beauty in which the waving green of the trees about the homes of 
the city is a striking feature, we may well ask: What has made Medford 
what it is? Various answers may be given, all in themselves correct; 
but let us get at the beginning, for that is what we celebrate today. 

Medford was blest in its beginning. It had good men for its founders. 
Mathew Cradock, a business man and a Christian, who carried his re- 
ligious principles into practice, but who came not over from England. 
John Winthrop, who was his successor, and the first Governor, who 
built here his farm house which possibly remains today, though known 
by the name of another. Winthrop was a Christian business man also, 
and of him we know somewhat. We know that when he came across 
the sea he brought with him the charter given by royal authority, and 
that he began in the wilds of New England a freer government (though 
loyal to King Charles I.) than Old England afforded. In him was em- 
bodied the wisdom of the serpent, for it was a shrewd move, the transfer 
of the royal charter from England to these shores, the charter of a busi- 
ness corporation, the foundation of a State. From that "London Plan- 
tation of Massachusetts Bay' ' has evolved our ancient Commonwealth 
into which the Plymouth colony of ten years' earlier settlement was 
later merged. 

Before 1630, there were but seven towns in both colonies, and Medford 
and others are contemporary with Boston. Oh, that the old records of 
those early years might come to light, that we might know the names of 
those earliest settlers and more about them. Only the diary of Winthrop 
in which he wrote that on June 17, 1630, he "came up the Mistick River 
six miles" and the letter of his deputy and successor that "some settle 
at Mistick which we called Meadford," fixes the fact. From another 
source we find that the "Rev. James Noyes preached at Meadford a 
year." While we may deplore the lack of recorded evidence, we may in 
no way suppose that the ancient Meadford was irreligious. Far from it. 
We need only to turn to that quaintest of books that bore the ponderous 
title of "The Wonder Working Providence of Zion's Saviour in New 
England,' ' and learn how the fathers laid the foundations of church and 
State. Its author, with others, in 1640, passed through our ten year old 
town, locating at Charlestown village, two years later called Woburn; 
there they formed first the church, and then the town. Captain John- 
son, the author mentioned, wrote that "it was as unnatural for a right 
New England man to live without an able ministry, as for a smith to work 
his iron without a fire." 

But our little Meadford was small and poor and the people had diflEi- 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 227 

culty in supporting a resident minister, though they paid their rate or tax 
for civil and mihtary expense. From time to time in the early records 
we find account of payments for preaching and the carriage of ministers 
to and fro. Slow must have been the progress in the clearing of the 
primeval forests, and the increase of population equally so, and the hard- 
ship endured would have daunted hearts less strong than those our 
fathers possessed. Not till sixty-five years had passed away, and the 
taxpayers then but thirty, was the first meetinghouse built. King 
Charles had ceased to reign and had perished on the scaffold. The ex- 
periment of the Protectorate of Cromwell, though maintained during his 
lifetime, had failed in the hands of his son and successor. New England 
was slowly advancing in popular government; but Old England was 
retrograding under the weak reign of the second Charles. James II. had 
succeeded to the throne and been driven from it into exile; and William 
and Mary were the reigning sovereigns when the people of Medford, 
scattered from the what we call the Cradock House to the "Weare, " as- 
sembled for the first time in that humble house for worship. Probably 
a drum was beaten for the call ; and in early times the colonists took their 
guns along for safety. To all these rulers had Medford given allegiance ; 
yet here had been the beginning of the government by the people, never- 
theless. Say you those times were slow? So is the growth of the oak; 
but in it is strength and endurance ; and in those slow times were men of 
character, — the men that made the town. Among the names that have 
come down to us, and from this section, are those of Hall, Wheeler and 
Francis, the Willises, Whitmore, Bradshaw and Brooks. 

Wilham and Mary, Queen Anne and George III. were referred to in 
every warrant for the town meeting, and the people were warned in their 
majesty's name to attend. Mr. William Woodbridge was the first min- 
ister, but had no settlement here, and Rev. Aaron Porter was the first 
settled pastor. John Whitmore and John Bradshaw were the deacons. 
The Willises were carpenters and built the meeting house, and Thomas 
Willis gave the town the land on which it stood. Remember, he gave it 
to the town, for the town paid for its construction, and it was what its 
name indicated, a meeting house, for the meetings both religious and 
secular or civil. It was here in West Medford, too, on a rock, near the 
"Oborn rode" as the record reads, and was used for thirty years; and 
yet another generation had come upon the stage, and were enacting their 
part in the city's making. Then in 1727 a larger one was built at the 
foot of the hill beyond the brook, and the Rev. Ebenezer Turell was the 
minister. In 1744 was heard for the first time in Medford the sound of 



228 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, 

the Sabbath bell, the gift of some liberal gentlemen; and when, in 1770, 
the third meeting house was built where the First Parish Church now 
stands, the bell was removed from the old to the new. Four years later 
the town secured a young minister, David Osgood, to assist the venerable 
pastor, then 73 years of age; and four more and the good man who had 
preached in all three of Medford meeting houses entered into rest. Slowly 
and sadly the old bell tolled seventy-seven to announce to the people his 
passing away. 

The second King George had reigned, the third George was upon 
the throne, and the men of Medford had been dutiful subjects ; but at this 
distance from England they were good citizens making no mean city. 
They had held their own against the savages of the forest ; they had served 
loyally the royal government against the French; but a new era was to 
dawn, a supreme struggle to be made, in which the men of Medford 
should bear their part, an honorable part, in the making of a new page in 
history. 

One April night a solitary horseman galloped "over the bridge into 
Medford town" and paused at the marketplace to arouse the militia 
captain, and then sped on his way with loud outcry, as he passed the 
scattered farmhouses. Yonder High Street echoed to the clattering 
hoofs, and his shout of alarm rang out on the night air, and he was gone. 
The dim candles soon twinkled in the windows as the sleeping villagers 
were soon astir. The old flint lock guns and powder horns came down 
all in readiness, for the farmers of Middlesex were minutemen. When 
the day dawned they were on the march toward Lexington with their 
faces grim and determined. 

On the evening of Sunday, April 19, 1903, just 128 years later, and 
within sight of the battlefield, I heard, beaten on the very drum our 
fathers used, the long roll; and, as I heard that sound, it required but 
little imagination to see the determined band of patriots on Lexington 
Green, and hear the words of Captain Parker, "Don't fire unless fired 
upon, but if they want war, let it begin here." 

But a little distance from this house of prayer where we assemble in 
peace today, an anxious family that long ago morning looked westward 
toward Menotomy from the attic windows of Rev. Edward Brooks' house. 
They saw the glistening bayonets of the British troops, and the blood red 
flags of England going up the country road, and well they knew their 
meaning. One hundred and thirty years have rolled away, and today 
it is our privilege (yours and mine) to look on that same blood red flag 
they saw — yes, and the minutemen saw — as they firmly awaited its com- 




BRITISH FLAG CAPTURED AT LEXINGTON 
APRIL 19, 1775 
(see PPS. 107-229) 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 229 

ing. The story of Lexington and Concord is known to every school boy 
or ought to be ; but here is a bit of history that will be new to you. This 
flag is a trophy of Lexington. That day it fell into the hands of those 
"rebels" that Major Pitcairn commanded, in the King's name, to dis- 
perse, but who obeyed not the command. Its captor was the great great 
grand uncle of our brother James Knight, who considers it a priceless 
legacy, and brings it to our view today. 

But this is not all its story. Look on its silken folds and try to imagine 
the scenes of that day. Look closer and you will find the cross of St. 
George is missing. It was in place on the day of Lexington. What 
means it, you ask? Ask the school children. Perchance they will tell 
you that the united colonies had no universal banner till June, 1777. 
This English flag, a lawful prize of war, became for a time the emblem 
of armed resistance to oppression. St. George's cross removed, the union 
filled in, and thirteen short stripes of white, seven on one side and six on 
the reverse added, it, with others similar to it, was used by the Continental 
army under Washington. But this one you see today is the peer of them 
all, as it was itself first the banner of the King, later that of the colo- 
nists. Hundreds of people during the last few days have gazed upon its . 
folds as they came to honor the memory of the Medford men of 1775. 

The Medford men came back across the Weare, worn with the stress 
of conflict, but not 59 of them. "The shot heard round the world' ' had 
been fired, and they bore in their ranks a wounded comrade. They 
brought him to home and to mother, six days later to die — "the son of 
his mother, and she was a widow." In enduring bronze the names of 
Paul Revere and Captain Isaac Hall have just been honored in our city. 
Equally worthy of such honor the young Medford private, William Polly. 
On that return march there was a "Woman's ReHef Corps" on duty here 
in West Medford, for Madam Brooks had food prepared against their 
coming. The big kettle was hung and chocolate was served to the tired, 
thirsty men — for the tea had gone into Boston harbor. Such as these 
had a hand in the making of the city. 

A little later, and it was June 17th, too, the noise and smoke and the 
dreadful carnage of battle at Bunker Hill, just 145 years from the day 
that Winthrop sailed peacefully up the Mystic. That eventful morning 
found a young West Medford man of twenty-three in a responsible po- 
sition, though not in the battle ; and he was later assigned to a position of 
important service by the commander-in-chief, the immortal Washington. 
I refer to the young physician who two years before had begun to practice 
in Reading, John Brooks. Intimate with Washington during the Revo- 



230 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

lution, none was better fitted than he to pronounce the eulogy, when 
Medford's people gathered in the old third meeting house, to mourn for 
the passing away of the Father of his Country. And when Lafayette in 
later years visited America and came to Medford, he passed through 
yonder street, and was welcomed by his old companion in arms, whom 
the old Bay State had honored by election as Governor for seven succes- 
sive years. Six months later, with the discernment of a doctor and the 
obedience of a soldier, he said: "My case is beyond physicians; I have 
received my orders ; I am ready to march.' ' Of him it was written, "The 
lamp of religion was trimmed and burning, and he believed that his life 
was hid with Christ in God." 

Not only in church and State and military prowess have the men of 
Medford contributed to the making of no mean city, but in the enterprises 
and arts of peace as well. Medford ships have sailed on every sea, 567 of 
them; to say nothing of the first one built in this western world by Govern- 
or Winthrop, and launched on the waters of the Mystic on July 4, 1631. 
'Twas called "The Blessing of the Bay." Another called by the poet 
the "Ship of State" was launched at Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, a 
blessing to the nations of the world. Medford crackers had an extensive 
and favorable reputation, and another Medford product that was deemed 
indispensable in the olden time. Of this more than enough has been 
said of late, — I forbear. 

Medford has not been without its eminent clergymen and jurists, its 
philanthropists, its authors and educators. Two West Medford men 
have written and revised its history. It now needs another writing to 
bring it up to date. 

In the honorable and legitimate acquisition of wealth there have been 
the men of Medford. Also along educational lines, out from the little 
red school house and the old private schools and young ladies' semina- 
ries, of from 50 to 100 years ago, through the graded system of our public 
schools, with their substantial buildings, to the college on yonder hill, 
now a half century old, has progress been made. The people's college, 
the library, dates back to 1825; but for thirty years it was a private or 
subscription enterprise. In '55 it began its career as a public library, 
with an appropriation of $200. Last year nearly $9000 paid its expenses. 

Till 1823 the town was the parish; church and State were united in 
our ancient city and throughout the Commonwealth. No witches were 
ever hung in Medford, but the Quakers were not welcomed, and the 
Baptists met with scant courtesy in the old time. Dr. Osgood, who was 
the minister for over 48 years, had held the esteem and confidence of the 



SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICES. 23 1 

parish, which was somewhat divided in opinion, the larger portion hold- 
ing to the Unitarian views of William Ellery Channing. So with the 
settlement of a new pastor, the Rev. Andrew Bigelow, came the forma- 
tion of the second, or Trinitarian Church and parish, in 1823; while the 
Methodists were on the ground with forty members (this same year) that 
believed in a full and free salvation. The Baptists closely followed, and 
seven years later the Universalists. But I must not trespass on the 
thought or expression of my brother, who is to speak for the church, only 
to say that it was no mean city, that in love and respect for their venerable 
pastor forebore their differences, and followed his leadership while he 
lived; and no ordinary man that could hold such a varying thought so 
many years. 

The years rolled on, the temperance movement compelled attention, 
and the great question in the national life was ever unsettled, continually 
reviving by the expansion of territory. 

New England had liberated her slaves. Yes, Medford had them, and 
their handiwork remains for us to view. Col. Royall had twelve ; several 
others two, and others one ; among this number was Parson Turell. In 
1754 they numbered thirty-four, and fifteen that were made free. But 
from 1798, when Nathan Wait, the Medford blacksmith, rescued Caesar 
from return to bondage, till the ante bellutn days when Major Stearns' 
mansion was a station of the underground railroad, the system had no 
favor here. And one day the nation was startled by the news from 
Harper's Ferry, and later it was known from what source came the funds 
supplied to John Brown. History was made rapidly in the months that 
followed, and the men of Medford were heard from. In the mighty 
uprising that followed they were ready and responded to the call of Presi- 
dent Lincoln. On yonder window is the name of the man who with 
bared head prayed for them in Medford Square as they departed — a 
scene and a prayer long remembered. Time forbids to tell of the heroic 
deeds, of the suffering endured, nor yet of the reunited country. Of the 
first, some here remember; the rest can easily learn. In the dark days 
that followed, the terrible ordeal was passed, and slavery went down. 
The years since then have been those of growth, of development. Enter- 
prises Uttle thought of before, inventions of utility, the giants of steam 
and the wizards of electricity have ministered to the people's needs and 
added to their comforts, till we look backward and wonder. We look 
forward and wonder more. 

Two hundred and seventy-five years, — what means it ? Can we real- 
ize in any way what the settlement at Mistick was and meant ? Each 



232 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

generation has labored, and the succeeding ones have seen and enjoyed 
the results. It is a pertinent question, what of the future ? For some of 
us but little remains to do. Whether for the highest good or no, we have 
been making our impress, our part of the history (each one of us) and 
younger and stronger hands must engage in the making of the city that 
is and is to be. Perhaps there is here today some future Mayor of the 
city or Governor of the Commonwealth ere its third century shall close 
and its 300th anniversary be celebrated. Perhaps some boy who may 
preach the Gospel of Christ; perhaps some one who shall delve into tha 
hidden secrets and forces of nature, or whose inventive genius shall 
bless mankind ; some girl whose genius for art or music, poetry or litera- 
ture, shall bring her fame, and her influence be widely felt for good; I 
say perhaps. There are those, however, and here is no chance but cer- 
tainity, who in the every day duties and walks of life will have a part to 
perform, a duty to do. 

Young people, the welfare of the city will be in your keeping. When 
in 1930 the bright June days shall come, Medford will fittingly observe 
that 300th birthday. By earnest, faithful work in home, in church, in 
school, in daily work, in business relations and in social effort, in the 
name of Him who dignified labor, who on earth went about doing good, 
do your best as opportunity offers, to make your citizenship true and 
noble. 

From the small beginning of Governor Winthrop's time of June 17, 
1630, has grown the city beautiful of 1905. Add to it, all in your power 
of your best effort for those of the future to enjoy and improve. Make 
it a city glorious of the highest order — "no mean city.*' 

SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE AT OPERA HOUSE. 

The exercises began with selections by Clark and Treet's Orchestra, 
after which a selected chorus, under the able direction of Mr. William E. 
Crosby, gave "With Sheathed Swords," with orchestral accompaniment. 

The audience sang "Come, thou Almighty King," after which Rev. 
Burt Leon Yorke made the invocation, followed by the response "Hear 
Us." 

Rev. Sylvester S. Kline read the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, after 
which Rev. Homer B. Potter gave out the hymn "O God, Our Help in 
Ages Past," followed by prayer by Rev. Nathan R. Wood. 

Then came that grand chorus "Inflammatus," from Rossini's "Stabat 
Mater," accompanied by the orchestra, Mrs. Clara Goodwin Jackson, 
singing the solo. 



SUNDAY EVENING SERVICES. 23 Z 

" The Message of the Christian Church in New England through Two 
Hundred and Seventy-Five Years,"-the introductory address being 
made by Rev. Henry C. DeLong; as to ^'Education," Rev. George M. 
Butler; "Democracy," Rev. Clarence L. Eaton; "Philanthropy," Rev. 
Frank I. Paradise; and "Patriotism," Rev. Maurice A. Levy, as follows: 

"the message of THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF NEW ENGLAND THROUGH 

275 YEARS." 

ADDRESS BY THE REV. HENRY C. DELONG. 

We are met to consider the message of the Christian Church of New 
England through 275 years. It is important to remember that New 
England was founded on and closely identified with the great Puritan 
movement. In that movement there was much that was narrow, much 
that was far enough from admirable, much we should be glad to forget; 
but at the heart of it there was something noble and commanding. The 
soul of it was religion, and religion held in strictest sincerity and with 
absolute devotion. If ever men meant " to see clear and think straight,' ' 
the Puritans were such men. At the centre of their religion and thdr 
life they placed the supremacy and sovereignty of God. They believed 
that over all the issues of man's life, over all his conduct by which the 
issues were determined, was God, and that man's highest duty was to be 
the subject and servant of the will of God. 

Now, it was a necessity of a conception of religion so fundamental as 
this that superior and trained minds solemnly consecrated should be the 
leaders and teachers of others. At the very beginning, education and 
rehgion went hand in hand. When in the wilderness they founded Har- 
vard College it was "for Christ and the Church,' ' to train godly and com- 
petent men to preach the Gospel, to teach its truth, so that here might 
be a people that feared God and wrought righteousness, and was accepted, 
of him. Consequently, no figure of that time is so striking as that of the 
New England minister. In his field he was clothed with authority to be 
the interpreter of the ways of God to men. Pre-eminently there was one 
such minister here in Medford, a man of commanding personality, and 
of dominant influence for good ; I speak of the Rev. David Osgood, D.D., 
who was the minister of the town from 1774 to 1822, the last who held 
an undivided parish. 

^ He was a son of an Andover farmer, and not until his nineteenth year 
did the passion for college and the ministry possess him; but when it 
did it entirely possessed him, and in sixteen months he completed his 



234 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

preparation and entered Harvard College. He was graduated in 1771, 
at the age of twenty-four, and studied theology for a year after his gradu- 
ation. He became the minister of Medford in 1774. The scholarly 
characteristic of his mind was shown in his habits of study. By reason 
of the haste of his preparation for college he felt that he lacked much 
knowledge of Greek and Latin authors, and to make good the deficiency 
it was for many years his habit to devote the first hour after breakfast to 
them, and in this way he is said to have read all of Plutarch's writings, 
many volumes of Plato, and the histories of Hesiod and Thucydides. 
Throughout his life he was a student, and his pubUshed sermons are 
enriched with the wide resources of a scholarly mind. The literary style 
of his preaching has a distinction somewhat unusual in the time in 
which he lived. 

His manner of preaching was marked with dignity and force. He 
sometimes committed to memory parts of his discourses with which he 
had taken especial pains, or which he thought peculiarly important. 
And the matter of his sermon was as significant as the manner of it. 
Notably was this true of occasional sermons on Thanksgiving or Fast 
Days, which dealt strongly with questions of wide political interest in 
those stirring times when history was in the making. We must remem- 
ber that political sentiment was divided then between Democrats and 
FederaHsts, of which Jefferson and Washington were the acknowledged 
leaders. Dr. Osgood was a pronounced Federalist, and the discourse 
preached in Medford on Thanksgiving Day, 1794, was the one which 
first gave him celebrity. It was called forth by an appeal to the people 
from the decision of the American government under Washington, by 
one Genet, minister of the French Republic to the United States, who 
went to Charleston to fit out vessels for war against England. In it Dr. 
Osgood maintained the rightfulness of a strong federal power with such 
cogency and force as to make his name known to those who were shaping 
the history of the American republic. Several notable sermons are of 
this class. One of them on the danger and menace of the French Re- 
pubhc he called "The Devil Let Loose," but the discourse is altogether 
temperate in tone notwithstanding. I have dwelt only on what was most 
significant in the ministry of Dr. Osgood. But all was significant in a 
man who held his office as a Christian minister with entire seriousness, 
who labored during fifty years to establish the faith of men and women 
in the Gospel of Christ so dear to him, to strengthen them for all the 
duties, trials and adversities of life, and always in the persuasion that he 
must give an account of his stewardship. A remembrance of his high 




it: 

O 
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O O H 



SUNDAY EVENING SERVICES. 235 

qualities may be a fitting introduction to our commemoration of the mes- 
sage of the Christian Church of New England through 275 years. 

"education." 

address by the rev. george m. butler. 

It is not an easy matter, nor one lending itself always to any consider- 
able accuracy, to gather up the content of a long period of time and ex- 
press it in a single idea, for life and life's processes are so complex and so 
varied, the thoughts, motives and deeds of men are so entwined and in- 
terwoven that it is not easy to find a single thread and trace it. And yet 
there is nothing finer or more inspiring than to try to do this, however in- 
adequate be the results. It has in it the thrill of the army in the silent 
"march past" — tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp, — the one great idea of 
progress dominating the entire action! Now, in the history of New 
England there has been, I think, at least one just such outstanding and 
therefore traceable idea or fact. That fact is the inviolable union — mar- 
riage, shall I say? — of two forces in the civilization of New England, 
namely, Education and Religion. 

When the New England fathers first came to these shores, for what 
purpose did they come ? It was not, I suppose, as is so often but mis- 
takenly said, in order to establish and extend religious liberty, a Hberty 
in which people of different views could live and think side by side, for 
none were more intolerant of views contrary to their own than were the 
first settlers of New England ; but it was to found and maintain a theo- 
cratic state — a state in which God should be enthroned as ruler and no 
mere man — in which all men should acknowledge their individual al- 
legiance to Him, abiding by certain well formulated doctrinal laws; a 
state also upheld by no great standing army and navy, but by two great 
pillars, the church and the school, — religion and education. And so we 
know they planted at one and the same time the meeting house and the 
school house. So they planted their first great higher institution of 
learning. Harvard College, in order that for the sake of the church there 
might be raised up an educated ministry. And so, also, taught and 
inspired by what they had seen and known in little Holland across the 
seas, they founded the public school system as the necessary accompani- 
ment of their theocratic system. And it is the historic fact that for many 
years both school and church were equally public institutions, ordered 
and supported by the legal citizens and voters of each community. But 
now starting with the idea that religion and education must go hand in 



236 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

hand, the church and the school walk side by side, something else has 
been true, and that is that for the most part during these 275 years and 
more in New England, which we are commemorating tonight, the Chris- 
tian church in New England has had a permanent message to the school. 
To be sure, it cannot be claimed that this message has been always 
clearly conceived or rightly uttered, nor has precept always been sup- 
ported by common practice ; nevertheless, always some have thought and 
taught and lived it, keeping the light of it burning ever on the hill! 

One permanent message from the Christian church to the school from 
the old white meeting house, whose simple beauty and strength in many 
instances never has been surpassed, down through its ugly architectural 
successors to this day of renewed appreciation of the best in churchly 
structure, — one word of address to the little red schoolhouse and its 
splendid modern successors, to the academy, the college and the univer- 
sity. What is that message? To my mind it is twofold, and, briefly 
stated, this: (i) That the ultimate aim of all religion and of all educa- 
tion is one and the same; for while on the one hand the best education 
seeks to call out the whole man in his highest harmonious development, 
on the other hand the best religion seeks to do the same; each purposing 
to touch and quicken every normal faculty of the man, and to bring it to 
expression; each endeavoring to take a potential man and make out of 
him an achieved man. And for this reason the interest, the honor and 
the support due to one is no less due to the other. This, I take it, has 
been, though in varying degree I admit, the first message of the church 
to the school, — of religion to education, — through 275 years of New 
England life. 

And now the other is not greatly unlike it. The Christian church has 
also said to the school in all these years: It is not enough that you educate 
a man's brain ; it is not enough that you train his hand ; it is not enough 
that you fill him with the wisdom of all time ; hut you must also educate 
his moral nature; you must guide and direct his will; you must teach him 
that the beginning of all truest and highest wisdom is the fear of the Lord, 
for you may have an educated man, and yet all the worse a man ! You 
may have an educated villain, and all the worse a villain for that, doing 
more harm than the ignorant, bad man ! You may have an educated 
spoilsman in your political service and all the worse a spoilsman, because 
of his education ! You may have an educated demagogue in your coun- 
cils of state, and all the more a dangerous and destructive force to your 
government ! 

No ! Education is not the only need — the school is not the only citadel 



SUNDAY EVENING SERVICES. 237 

and safeguard of a nation. But religion and the church must likewise 
be the pillar upon which a nation rests, upon which the life of the indi- 
vidual is well founded, for it is righteousness as well as cleverness — nay, 
more than cleverness— that must exalt a nation! It is the religious heart 
and will as well as the skilled mind and the trained hand that must pros- 
per the individual. It is the education that makes for moral character 
more than the education which makes for prime powers of bread-winning 
that brings success to a people. It is that idealism for which both church 
and school should stand, and without which either is futile, and not mate- 
rialism which must develop and mature the resources of a truly great 
country. A true religion which is education in its best sense, and a true 
education which is essentially religious— these must ever go hand in hand. 
This, then, my friends, I take it, is the twofold message of the Chris- 
tian church during these 275 years of Medford's history and the few 
more years of the history of New England itself. Summarized, (i) The 
true aims of education and religion are identical, to make a full grown 
man; and no man ever truly educated who is not also truly religious. 
(2) That even education will fail and in itself prove a menace, instead 
of a good to nation and individual alike, unless guided by the religious 
ideal. And what has been the message of these 275 years now passed, 
will any one here say is not a cogent and more compelling message for 
the years to come? 

"democracy." 

address by the rev. clarence l. eaton. 

Whether we labor as private individuals, as legislators in State coun- 
cils, as members of a laboring fraternity, or as managers of industrial 
enterprises, a large part or our time is spent in relating our endeavors 
to those of the rest of our fellow men. 

Our early New England ancestors, in dealing one with another, did 
not immediately abolish all distinctions of caste. Not all of those who 
came over on the Mayflower were freemen and entitled to sign its com- 
pact. For a long time there was the indented servant, and church 
members only could be voters. These conditions passed. The indented 
servant and the limitation of the suffrage to those who were church mem- 
bers disappeared; and gradually were our forefathers prepared to recog- 
nize the value of a republican, representative form of government. As a 
result of this development in ideas and the endeavors of our ancestors, 
we are engaged in that experiment which we call the United States of 



238 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

America, that experiment of trying, on the basis of a republican, repre- 
sentative form of government, to create an ideal human brotherhood, a 
pure democracy, in which every man shall be secure in his inalienable 
rights and in which every man shall have the largest opportunity to build 
himself in all that makes for a fine, large and splendidly equipped man- 
hood. 

As we face the problem thus created, we meet at once the fact that 
men are not equal. One man is strong, another is weak; one is brilliant, 
another dull; one is skilful, another is clumsy; one by industry or in- 
heritance has come into possession of large resources, another by sim- 
plicity or self-sacrifice is empty handed; one man faces a hostile situation 
alone; another, with powerful influence or a strong organization at his 
back. These inequalities you cannot altogether remove by any artificial 
means. No Declaration of Independence, no system of general public 
education, no rules of a labor organization decreeing a minimum wage, 
no generosity of a multi-millionaire howsoever wise he may be, can make 
the children of men equal. Men are unequal, and power can be used in 
hard and selfish ways. The mean and unjust use of superior power and 
ability may be checked somewhat by legislation or by an aggregation of 
forces created through organization; but such means are at best faulty 
and clumsy, promoting friction and often creating abuses as great as 
those they seek to remedy. 

A pure democracy is built up only as there is developed among moral 
character, respect for others' rights and the spirit of human brotherhood. 
The spirit of Christian kindness and Christian thoughtfulness is needed 
to develop both the intelligence and the will, without which there can be 
created no happy relationship of man with men. President Roosevelt 
has well said: "When all is said and done, the rule of brotherhood re- 
mains as the indispensable prerequisite to success in the kind of national 
life for which we strive." Precisely these notes of justice and brother- 
hood have been the burden of the message of our New England pulpits 
for two hundred and seventy-five years; and nowhere else in the wide 
world has this been the united message of the churches. 

Our forefathers were the cousins of the men who fought under Crom- 
well on Marston Moor. To them the Bible was ever a source of in- 
spiration; and its spirit, that feared not to condemn men, even princes 
and kings, for their unjust and cruel use of power, was a part of their 
very lives. The Christian churches of New England as the Christian 
churches everywhere have ever been under the spell of the life of that 
Master of men who was a helper of the helpless. 



SUNDAY EVENING SERVICES. 239 

The Christian church is democratic both in organization and in spirit. 
Our churches of two hundred years ago were not pure democracies; 
nevertheless the New England meeting house was where all classes of 
men met together to relate their experiences, to interchange ideas and to 
listen to a common message to their manhood. Our churches are today 
the most democratic institutions on the face of the earth, where no vote 
rules any one out; where the rich and the poor sit side by side; where 
even the sinner is welcome, provided he comes in the right spirit, and 
where if men of any class shut themselves out it is to their own misfortune 
and loss of usefulness. Read the annals of our churches and you will 
find that not only men of worth and ability have been respected, but that 
also men have been exalted and honored whose greatness was neither 
intellectual nor financial but the moral greatness of a pure heart and a 
noble spirit. 

Ever has the message of the church to men of power, whether that 
power came through the ownership of slaves, or the possession of ships 
and factories, or through organization with men of like pursuit, ever has 
its message to men of power been: "Respect your fellow man as a brother 
in Christ. Look not every man upon his own things but every man also 
upon the things of others. He that loseth his Ufe in the spirit of Jesus 
shall find it." Because these principles have been so largely incorpo- 
rated into our New England life do we have so fine and free a fellowship 
of men of all classes today, such as compares favorably with that any- 
where on the face of the earth. When these principles shall have been 
more largely incorporated into our national hfe, then shall America come 
nearer to being an ideal human brotherhood, a pure democracy, in 
which every man shall dwell under his own vine and fig tree and have 
the largest freedom and opportunity to build himself in all that shall 
make him a true and large man and a noble son of God. 

"philanthropy." 

address by the rev. frank i. paradise. 

I can hardly forget the anomalous position which a representative of 
the Anglican Church occupies in this Puritan festival; and I might be 
conscious of some embarrassment tonight did I not remember that the 
body of Puritans who landed at Salem in 1629— and from whom, rather 
than from the Pilgrims, the New England theocracy arose— was formed 
under the guiding mind of the Bishop of Bath and Wells; was led by the 
Rev. John White, vicar of Dorchester, England; and was composed 
wholly of members of the Church of England. 



240 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

It speaks well for the healing process of time, for the broadening of 
the faith, that the descendants of those stern and unrelenting foes of the 
church in which they were bred, who drove from the colony every ad- 
herent to the old form and service, should come to recognize that the 
historic Church fills an important part in the Hfe of the community. The 
hated conjunction of monarchy and episcopacy is happily broken. The 
passion for uniformity is in a large measure cooled. The spiritual su- 
premacy of the English King is an amusing fiction. Thus the Puritan 
lived not in vain. On the other hand, it is no longer the fashion to im- 
prison Episcopal rectors, or to break the windows of King's Chapel. A 
better day has dawned, and puritan Boston, which could not abide the 
presence of the Rev. Mr. Blaxton, has opened its heart in glad welcome 
to the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

I have heard some strange things about the Puritan during the last few 
days. I suppose it is very hard, in a popular assemblage, to get a true 
historic perspective. I have not forgotten his hardness and bitterness 
of life, his unrelenting spirit, his cruelty in persecution, and his narrow- 
ness of vision. In these qualities he revealed the spirit of the age in 
which he lived. But the Puritan, with his Hmitations and defects, had 
something else. His life was outwardly barren and unlovely; but in- 
wardly it was enriched by great and ennobUng experiences. He failed 
to achieve that broad kindliness of spirit, which is the fruition of the 
Christian faith; but his soul was aglow with the prophetic zeal of the Old 
Testament, and inspired with a great passion to realize in actual life, in 
all relations to society and in the State, what he conceived to be the will 
of God. 

It was a great task the Puritan set himself — an enterprise which taxed 
even the stern qualities of his masterful nature. This was no harbor of 
refuge for the inefiScient or the incompetent, — such were early given to 
understand that their room was needed. Not but that there was sym- 
pathy and help for the poor and weak in earlier, as in these later, genera- 
tions ; but when one speaks of the Puritan's philanthropy, the word takes 
a great lift ; it means that these men were contributors to the sense of the 
world's hfe of those great ideas by which they lived ; of those divine gifts 
for which they endured and toiled. It was this splendid aim to create a 
new social order founded upon truth and righteousness that gives to the 
Puritan movement its real dignity and nobleness. If that movement 
partook of the conditions of the age which gave it birth, it was none the 
less an outward expression of a deep and passionate love for man, which 
is the essence of philanthropy. 



SUNDAY EVENING SERVICES. 24 1 

To the Puritan certain spiritual ideas had become the most real of all 
life's possessions — more real than power or wealth or position. Surely 
one of these great ideas which the Puritan contributed to the world's life 
was the supreme worth of individual liberty. I have not forgotten how 
imperfectly this idea presented itself to him ; but I cannot lose from my 
vision the picture of this sombre man, wrought upon by titanic emotions, 
the victim of frightful hallucinations, but reaching out for a new and 
wider world in which the spirit of freedom might emancipate itself from 
the thraldom and tyranny of King and priest. Here upon this unfriendly 
soil, he sought to found a state in which the supreme guide and law was 
his unfettered conscience. He believed, with all the might of his strong 
and passionate nature, that God was King of Kings, and that between 
him and God no earthly power could intervene. He demanded for him- 
self a freedom to worship, which indeed he could not yet accord to others; 
yet in that demand he was the pioneer of all that is great and enduring 
in modern civilization. He builded better than he knew; but what he 
saw he offered as the gift of his life to the welfare of mankind. His was a 
great offering. It was won by fearful effort and sacrifice. And we to- 
night, rejoicing in a freedom of conscience such as Christendom never 
before knew, pay tribute of our grateful hearts to these old adventurers 
of the faith. And hand in hand with this passion for freedom there went 
a kindred passion for enlightenment. Out of their scanty substance 
our fathers gladly upbuilt not only the institution of religion, but also the 
institution of common knowledge. It was felt that not even from the 
poorest and weakest was the boon of enlightenment to be denied. This 
was a God-given gift — given for all men. It was therefore the basis of 
our public school system. Behind it lay the deep sense of the value of 
intellectual life; the keen and lively interest in the world of mind; and 
most of all the sense of the commonness of all of God's best gifts, which 
put upon the State the responsibility for the spiritual and intellectual wel- 
fare of each member of it, and upon each member the responsibihty for 
the well-being of the State. 

It was later in the Puritan's development that there came to him a new 
awakening of a world-wide spiritual responsibility. Whatever may be 
thought of the practical effect of the Foreign Mission movement upon 
the heathen, there can be no question of its immense influence over the 
minds and hearts of those enlisted in its service. It was the new and 
better crusade to win the world to Christ. It was a sublime and un- 
practical adventure. It was an appeal to the heroism of the Faith. 
For these clear-sighted, hard-headed enthusiasts it was an investment 



242 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

which paid no personal return. Into many a secluded farm kitchen came 
this new and wonderful consciousness of universal brotherhood. The 
imagination, inspired by religious zeal, leaped across seas and over moun- 
tains in its eagerness to knit the bond of common sonship to God. The 
Christian Church gave of its best to those in need — gave its heart, its 
mind, its institutions, its wealth, its traditions ; — for the love of God and 
for God's unfavored children. To some of you I would say that the 
apparently Quixotic notion of the church that wherever man goes for 
gain, there must the Christian Church go for love; for the giving of its 
gifts, is after all the unique distinction of the church among all the social 
forces of the world. 

I have chosen to ask you to come with me to this high tableland of 
thought. In no other way could I find an interpretation of the Puritan 
spirit that was large enough to include those qualities of mind and soul 
which distinguish him in the world's history. It was his mission to hew 
out, in this new world, a rough figure of a form of government which was 
to become the symbol of freedom and enhghtenment in generations to 
come. A true understanding of the Puritan reveals his faults and limi- 
tations, indeed, but most of all those enduring qualities which he has con- 
tributed to the life of man. His were no easy gifts — hghtly won and 
lightly given away. They were won by sacrifice and struggle and suffer- 
ing. They were his possessions for which he felt a passionate love. But 
if philanthropy means the love of man, then surely this stern and hard 
soldier of righteousness was in the greatest sense a philanthropist. 

"patriotism." 

address by the rev. maurice a. levy. 

Some one has defined Religion by the single word Relation. The 
religious man has related himself normally to God, on the one hand, and 
to men on the other. This adjustment involves every area of his life, 
not only as a member of the church, but also as a member of society. 
Jesus declared the fundamental principle of Christian citizenship when 
he said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God 
the things that are God's." The church has accepted that principle, 
not only when church and State were identified, but also when they came 
to the parting of the ways and the church became a voluntary institution; 
and, essentially, that has been her message through 275 years in New 
England. 

The voice of the church has always been raised to defend the Nation 
in the time of war, and to develop its largest prosperity in the years of 



SUNDAY EVENING SERVICES. 243 

peace. She might deprecate the necessity of war; but her sons have 
never shirked the duty of bearing arms. " Better war to right the wrong, 
than peace with wrong enthroned!" Not only has her prayer invoked 
God's blessing on the Nation's defenders, but her benediction has also 
speeded her sons to the front and to bear their part as Christian Patriots. 
They were in the conflict that wrested North America from French con- 
trol. They bore noble part in the struggle that unfurled Freedom's 
Banner in the western breeze, and raised the standard of hope for all the 
world. They led the way a century later in the hour of Civil War and 
wrought double triumph — Hberty for a bondaged race, and the Flag re- 
turned without a single star missing from its glorious field of blue. They 
heard the cry of the oppressed in our own generation, and responded, 
"The need of men is the command of God!" The unselfish endeavors 
of 1898 have done much still further to beautify and sanctify the stars 
and stripes in the eyes of all the nations. What was the message that 
aroused and fostered such a partiotic spirit, fittingly expressed in the 
gallant Ellsworth's motto, ''Non nobis sed pro patria," "Not for our- 
selves, but for our country ?' ' It was the Christian doctrine of altruism 
patriotically directed. That principle, enthroned, made good citizens in 
time of war and makes good citizens in time of peace. 

War makes wounds which peace must heal. Peace has problems 
peculiarly her own, and the Nation's life and character depend on their 
solution. What has been the message of the church in times like these 
in which we live? What could it be other than the same "Christian 
altruism, patriotically directed " ? Though drums are stilled and swords 
are sheathed, the Nation summons us to the same love for the Flag, and 
loyalty to sovereign law, and allegiance to our national ideals. The 
Republic has made possible the response to her own appeal. The out- 
standing purpose of our public school system is to develop good citizen- 
ship. Faculties are awakened, powers are developed, and characters 
are shaped in order that all the forces of our being may be mobilized and 
placed at the disposal of City and State and Nation. Give us men who 
can discern the needs and solve the problems of our country! The 
church, through these years, has been calling upon us to think and vote 
and serve as good citizens of the Republic and loyal followers of Jesus 
Christ. The good citizen will not only worship on the Lord's Day, but 
also cast his ballot on election day, for he is no more Christian in the 
church on Sunday than he is in the voting booth on Tuesday. The 
realization of that fact is vital to our national well-being. 

Sir Robert Griffin has said that from the standpoint of population and 
resource the United States is now the greatest nation in the world. That 



244 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

supremacy he attributes to what he calls "the superiority of the civic 
unit." The church has ever by message and by ministry sought to 
maintain and enhance such high-grade civic character, with ability to 
act and readiness to serve. At times hers has been a ' ' voice in the wilder- 
ness' ' and alone in emphasis upon the moral dignity and responsibiUty 
of citizenship ; but persistently has she held the standard high, and sum- 
moned men, Uke the color-bearer at Alma, " Bring the ranks up to the 
standard." 

Into the making of our Nation's Flag there have flowed the red of our 
fathers' sacrifice, the blue of our fathers' devotion, and the white of our 
fathers' noble, patriotic, God-fearing character. How better can we 
conclude a celebration like this than by pledging anew our own love for 
the Stars and Stripes and devotion to our Nation's weal ? In the words 
of Longfellow, let us say: 

"Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee; 
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears; 
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears 
Are all with thee — are all with thee !' ' 

Rev. E. S. Hatton gave out the hymn " Glorious Things of Thee Are 
Spoken." 

Rev. Edgar C. Bridgham then offered the concluding prayer, first giv- 
ing thanks for the Divine guidance in the long years of the past, and 
imploring the favor of Almighty God for the future of the city. 

With the inspiration of the hour he besought that the people of the 
Medford that is and is to be, may add to their education and democracy, 
their philanthropy and patriotism a deep rehgious conviction, an im- 
plicit faith, and an earnest effort for the upbuilding on all lines of the 
city of the future. 

Rev. John Wild announced "America," and Rev. Theodore A. 
Fischer pronounced the benediction. 



COMMITTEE REPORTS 



COMMITTEE REPORTS. 



REPORT OF THE PRESS COMMITTEE. 



The press committee commenced active operations as soon as the 
principal features of the Anniversary program, v^^hich planned a cele- 
bration of four days, had been perfected by the executive committee. 
All the information to be obtained w^as embodied in a circular, and this 
was supplemented with a cordial invitation to all former residents of 
Medford to return to the old town and join in the celebration. 

These circulars were sent to over 2000 of the principal daily and weekly 
papers of the United States, and brought the Anniversary to the atten- 
tion of the public in all sections of the country; many influential journals, 
such as the New York Tribune and the Springfield Republican, recog- 
nized the importance of the event by printing the circular in full. 

In response to the request of the committee, many editors sent marked 
copies of their papers containing references to the Anniversary to the 
secretary of the executive committee, and they will doubtless be pre- 
served, together with the full accounts of the Anniversary exercises given 
by the local and Boston press. 

During the Anniversary period, press bulletins were issued by the 
committee, giving the time and place of the exercises arranged for each 
of the four days. These were sent out in season to enable the Boston 
papers to give correctly the details of each day's program in advance. 
Press headquarters were opened in Tufts Hall building the day of the 
parade, and suitable badges were furnished all reporters assigned to 
cover the various features of the celebration. 

The Boston dailies, and the local papers as well, gave full reports of 
the Anniversary exercises. Portraits of many who assisted in promoting 
the success of the Anniversary, and pictures of pubhc buildings and old 
landmarks enhanced the value of many of these reports, and they are 
worthy of preservation as a record of Medford's 275th Anniversary 
celebration. 

Of the $100 appropriated for the use of the press committee, $86.45 
was expended, the greater part of which amount was paid for printing 
and postage. 

The press committee wish to place on record their appreciation of the 
courtesy extended to them by the members of the executive committee, 



248 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

and especially to Mr. David H. Brown, Chairman, and Mr. WillC. Eddy, 
Secretary, in furnishing information. 

A copy of the press circular above referred to accompanies this report. 

Charles R. Byram, 

Chairman Press Committee. 



press circular. 

The 275th Anniversary of the settlement of Medford will be cele- 
brated in June with exercises befitting the auspicious occasion, and the 
details of a program which will appeal to every resident of Medford, 
old and young, for their hearty co-operation is now being perfected by a 
committee appointed by the city government and the Medford His- 
torical Society, The celebration program, briefly outlined, is as fol- 
lows: — 

On Thursday, June 15, literary exercises will be held in the Medford 
Opera House, beginning at 2.30 P.M. Rev. Nehemiah Boynton, D.D., 
of Brooklyn, N. Y., will deUver the oration, and Dr. WiUiam Everett of 
Quincy, Mass., will read the poem. The anniversary ode will be written 
by Mrs. Daniel A. Gleason of West Medford. Addresses will be made 
by distinguished men from abroad as well as by prominent citizens of 
Medford, and the music under the direction of Prof. Leo R. Lewis of 
Tufts College will be an interesting feature of the exercises. 

At 6.30 P.M. a banquet will be served in the Armory Building, at 
which Mayor Dwyer will preside. Invitations will be extended to 
National and State dignitaries, the mayors of neighboring cities, and 
to other prominent men, whose ancestors, many of them, were either 
natives or residents of Medford. 

On Friday, June 16, the school children will have full sway. In 
the forenoon, exercises will be held in the halls of the grammar schools, 
in which the members of the primary grades will participate. In the 
afternoon, the members of the grammar schools, in two divisions, will 
hold exercises at the Opera House. In the evening, the High School 
scholars will take part in an interesting program at the Opera House. 
Music will be an important feature of all the school exercises, and in the 
evening an orchestra composed of members of the High School will 
assist in the program. 

At 3 P.M., the Sons of the American Revolution will dedicate a tablet 
to the memory of Governor Brooks. The exercises will take place in 
front of the Bank building on High Street. 



COMMITTEE REPORTS. 249 

Saturday, June 17, will be devoted to out-door entertainments. There 
will be a military and civic parade at 10.30 A.M., in which local organ- 
izations will take part, with several from out of town. 

Athletic sports will take place on Medford Common, beginning at 
2 o'clock, P.M. From 8 to 11 P.M., grand water carnival and electrical 
display on the Mystic lakes. Band concerts, illuminations, fireworks 
and other festivities will tend to make Bunker Hill day one of the most 
interesting of the anniversary period. Decorations, pubUc and private, 
will be on an extensive scale. 

On Sunday, June i8, appropriate services will be held in the various 
churches, in which former pastors and members are expected to take 
part, bringing the celebration exercises to a close. 

To all former residents of Medford, now scattered throughout the 
length and breadth of the United States, a hearty invitation is extended 
to participate in this Anniversary celebration. Medford's latchstring 
will be out, and the pilgrims journeying from afar to revisit once famihar 
scenes will find awaiting them a hearty welcome and hospitable enter- 
tainment. 

Appropriate tablets will assist them in locating the many historic 
sites, and at the rooms of the Historical Society, Public Library and 
famous Royall House they will find relics of bygone days that will recall 
Medford's early history and the noble men and women whose memory 
Medford always delights to honor. 

Drawings and general work by members of the Manual Training 
School will be on exhibition Thursday, Friday and Saturday, in the High 
School hall. 

The historic exhibit and loan collection will be open June 14, 15, 16 
and 17. 

Letters from absent sons and daughters of Medford, who may wish 
to obtain more definite information in regard to the celebration will 
meet with a prompt reply, and any information which may tend to lo- 
cating former residents will be gladly received by the Committee. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON INVITATIONS. 

The Committee on Invitations for the 275th Anniversary of the settle- 
ment of Medford was duly appointed for the purpose of attending to 
the work as indicated by the title. Several meetings were held at the 
City Hall, and the organization was perfected by the choice of Herbert 
N. Ackerman as secretary of the committee. 

Every effort was made to obtain information in regard to the address 
of former residents of Medford, and a large list of names was made out, 



250 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

showing that our sons and daughters were scattered in all quarters of 
the globe. The work of the committee in this line was heartily seconded 
by many of Medford's citizens, the principal difficulty being to learn 
the correct names of those ladies who had left their old home and subse- 
quently married. 

A form of invitation was prepared and engraved, the following being 
a copy of the same — 

1630. 1905. 

THE TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY FIFTH 

ANNIVERSARY 

OF THE 

SETTLEMENT OF MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS 

WILL BE CELEBRATED ON THE 

FIFTEENTH, SIXTEENTH, SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH 

OF JUNE, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIVE 

■. THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO EXTEND INVITATIONS 

TO THE EXERCISES ARRANGED FOR THIS 

CELEBRATION CORDIALLY INVITES ALL 

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF MEDFORD 

FORMER RESIDENTS AND THOSE 

INTERESTED IN ITS HISTORY 

TO BE PRESENT ON 

THIS OCCASION. 

ALLSTON P. JOYCE, 

CHAIRMAN. 
HERBERT N. ACKERMAN, 

SECRETARY. 

Between twenty-five hundred and three thousand of these were mailed, 
and they were sent not only to nearly all of the States of the Union, but 
also to Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, India, the various countries of Europe, 
and to Central and South America. Several hundred were also given 
to people who desired to send them to personal friends. 

A condensed program of the exercises of the days to be devoted to the 
Anniversary was printed, one of which was enclosed with each invitation. 

As a pleasing feature of the work of the committee, an eflfort was made 
to learn the names of the present residents of Medford who were born 
here and had always resided in the town and city and were at the time 



COMMITTEE REPORTS. 251 

seventy-five years of age or over. This resulted in a list of only twenty- 
five, consisting of nine men and sixteen women, who received special 
invitations to the Literary Exercises and other functions. 

Many letters of regret at their inability to be present and good wishes 
for the success of the celebration were received from the absent ones; 
and from those who were fortunately able to be with us, the hearty hand- 
shake, pleasant smile and words of congratulation showed that the 
efforts of the committee to bring home the wanderers were, at least, fairly 
successful. 

Alls TON P. Joyce, 

Chairman. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HISTORIC SITES. 

When the Committee on "Historic Sites" met to make arrangements 
for the marking of places of historic interest within our city, the question 
at once arose: What places are there in Medford that are worthy to be 
considered of sufficient note to attract the attention of people coming 
from other localities? A careful study of the situation showed that 
there were but few such places. The committee therefore came to the 
conclusion that their real work was not so much for the instruction and 
information of those persons visiting among us, but rather for the in- 
struction and information of our own citizens, and especially the school 
children, and to endeavor to create an interest in the study of local 
history, and to teach our people in the most effective way to remember 
incidents in the past history of Medford, and also to enable them to 
point out places made memorable, as having been the homes of the men 
and women who in the past have contributed their share towards making 
Medford's history and Medford's fame. 

The committee caused forty-one tablets to be erected, thus marking 
places worthy to be remembered. Had there been sufficient time, many 
more places could have been as appropriately marked. 

The total expenses were $101.31. The following is a list of the places 
where tablets have been placed : 

TABLETS MARKING HISTORIC SITES. 

I — Site of Admiral Vernon Tavern, 1720-1850. New Hampshire 
troops here elected John Stark their Colonel in 1775. Cor. Main 
and Swan Streets. 

2 — Site of the Royal Oak Tavern, 1 720-1 786. Cor. Main Street and 
Riverside Avenue. 



252 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

3 — Site of the Thomas Willis house, 1691. Supposed to have been 

the first Tavern in Medford. High Street, foot of Marm Simonds 

Hill. 
^ — Site of the Fountain House, 17 13-1887. Cor. Salem and Fountain 

Streets. 
5 — Site of Blanchard's Tavern, 1752-1833. Between River and Ames* 

Paint Shop, Main Street. 
6 — Site of the Shipyard of Sprague & James, Foster & Taylor, and 

Joshua T. Foster. The last ship built in Medford was launched 

here in 1873. Foot of Foster's Court, Riverside Ave. 
7 — Site of the Shipyard of Thatcher Magoun, the Pioneer Shipbuilder', 

James O. & Paul Curtis, Waterman & Ewell, Hayden & Cud- 
worth. Riverside Ave. foot of Park Street. 
8 — Site of the Shipyard of Turner & Briggs, Calvin Turner, Samuel 

Lapham. Riverside Ave., foot of Cross Street. 
9 — Site of the Shipyard of James O. Curtis. Swan Street, near City 

Building. 
10 — Site of the Shipyard of George Fuller. South Street, near foot of 

Walnut Street. 
II — Site of the Shipyard of Paul Curtis. South Street, cor. Curtis. 
12 — Site of the Shipyard of Jotham Stetson. Winthrop Street, near 

Bridge. 
13— Site of the house of Rev. John Wilson, 1634. Off Middlesex Ave. 

(Wellington), facing Fellsway. 
14 — House of George Blanchard, built in 1657. Off Riverside Ave. 

(Wellington). 
15 — House of Maj. Jonathan Wade, built about 1685. Brooks Lane, 

Rear of Savings Bank Building. 
16 — Site of the house of Maj. Nathaniel Wade, built about 1685. Taken 

down about 1830. Riverside Ave., near Park Street. 
i^ — House of Jonathan Brooks, built in 1786. This street was the 

highway to Woburn for over two centuries. Cor. High and Woburn 

Streets. 
18— Site of Dr. Simon Tufts' House, 1709. Cor. High and Forest 

Street. 
19— The Thomas Seccomb House, built in 1756. Medford Square. 
20— The Richard Sprague House, built in 1730. Cor. Riverside Ave. 

and River Street. 
21— The House of Jonathan Watson, built in 1738. High Street, next 

west of Unitarian Church. 



COMMITTEE REPORTS. 253 

22 — Here stood the dwelling of Rev. Ebenezer Turell, 1724-1880. Cor. 
Rural Ave. and Winthrop Street. 

23 — Here was erected the Second Schoolhouse in Medford, 1771-1775. 
High Street, next west of the Watson House. 

24 — Site of the Third (brick) Schoolhouse, 1 795-1846. Rear of Uni- 
tarian Church. 

25 — Here lived the Historian of Medford — Rev. Charles Brooks — 1855. 
High Street. 

26 — Wheeler's Mill-Dam and Road from Cambridge to Woburn, 1656. 
Off Arlington Street. 

27 — The Tornado of Aug. 2 2d, 1851, demolished the first West End 
Schoolhouse. Built on Woburn Street in 1829. Removed to this 
spot two years later. Canal Street. 

28 — In this immediate vicinity stood the Farmhouse and other buildings 
of Governor Matthew Cradock, built prior to the year 1633. Med- 
ford Square. 

29 — Here the Middlesex Canal was in operation, 1803-1852. Main, 
near Summer. 

30 — Course of the Middlesex Canal, 1803- 185 2. West Street and North 
Street. 

31 — Here was the Middlesex Canal, 1803-1852. Cor. West and Win- 
throp Streets. 

32 — Here was a Branch of the Middlesex Canal, 1803-1852. Mystic 
Ave. 

33 — "Canal Bridge." Here was the Middlesex Canal Acqueuct, built 
in 1802. Its piers and abutments supported the former wooden 
bridge for twenty-seven years. Boston Ave., crossing River. 

34 — Site of the Canal Tavern, 1803. Removed to Canal Street in 1889. 
Toward the River was a single lock and "Landing No. 4." Boston 
Ave., West of Canal Bridge. 

35 — Course of the Middlesex Canal, 1803-1852. The granite arched 
bridge was built in 1821, at the expense of Mr. Peter C. Brooks, 
and for his use. High Street and Boston Ave. 

36 — Northwest corner of John Winthrop's Ten-Hills-Farm. Main 
Street, Close to bridge. 

37 — Route of Paul Revere to Lexington, April 19, 1775. Up Grove 
Street was the house of Rev. Edward Brooks, where the returning 
Minute Men were served with food and Chocolate — no Tea. High 
Street, cor. Grove. 



254 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

38 — This wall was said to have been built about 1765 by "Pomp," 
the negro of Thomas Brooks, and who made its bricks. Grove 
Street. 

39 — Farmhouse of Gov. Winthrop's Ten-Hills-Farm, built prior to 
1690. The house of Lieut. Gov. John Usher, also of Isaac Royall, 
Sr. Enlarged and Slave Quarters added, it was the home of Col. 
Isaac Royall, who in the Revolution became an absentee. The 
estate was confiscated, but restored to his heirs. Royall House, 
Main Street. 

40 — First Baptist Church, Salem Street. 

41 — Near this spot was the home of Deacon John Whitmore, 1680-1840. 
High Street, between Warren and Playstead Road. 

TABLETS PREVIOUSLY PLACED. 

Site of First Schoolhouse and Second Meeting-House. High Street, 

near Marble Brook. 
Site of First Meeting-House. High Street, cor. High Street Court. 
Site of Old Ford. South Street, foot of Walnut. 
Capt. Peter Tufts House, built about 1680; commonly called Cradock 

House. Riverside Ave. 
Residence of Isaac Hall, Capt. of Minute Men, who was aroused by 

Paul Revere on April 19, 1775. Cor. High Street and Bradlee Road. 
Site of Gov. Brooks' Residence, now occupied by Medford Savings Bank. 
Tablet erected to N. H. Soldiers of Revolutionary War. Salem Street 

Cemetery. 
Monument to Gov. John Brooks. Salem Street Cemetery. 
Birthplace of Lydia Maria Child. Salem, cor. Ashland Street. 
Monument to Sagamore John. High Street, near Grove. 
Home of Sarah Bradlee Fulton. 54 Main Street. 
Home of the Medford Cracker. Withington Bakery, Salem Street. 

John H. Hooper, 

Chairman. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON DECORATIONS. 

The Committee on Decorations for the 275th Anniversary of the settle- 
ment of Medford held several meetings and discussed various schemes 
for the decoration of the public buildings and other decorative effects, 
but the appropriation finally allowed the committee was so small that 
only part of the plans of the committee could be carried out. 

It was early decided that so far as possible the decorations be kept in 
harmony and with as much unity of effect as could be obtained ; and the 



COMMITTEE REPORTS. 255 

citizens were urged to plan their private decorations in harmony with 
the work and suggestions of the committee. The committee desired 
that the decorations be of a higher artistic quality than is usual on such 
an occasion, and, with this idea in view, the chairman of the committee 
made designs for the decoration of the principal pubUc buildings, which 
were accepted and executed by Caleb P. Buckman of Boston. 

The City Hall, being the chief public building, was given first place 
in the decorative scheme. Great curtains of a rich maroon-red were 
placed between the columns on the front, extending to the entablature 
and looped up to the columns near the bottom, at a convenient height 
to allow people to enter. Across the top of each pair of curtains was a 
deep valance of the same material extending from column to column. 
Over these valances and from the top of each capital were hung huge 
wreaths of green laurel, with festoons of laurel rope binding them to- 
gether. On the front pediment was placed a large seal of the city painted 
in colors, from which radiated a glory of American flags. The side of the 
building was decorated with a broad band of solid red overlaid with 
festoons of green laurel rope, and above this, between the windows, were 
glories of flags. The whole effect was considered one of great beauty, 
and was the object of much admiration. 

The City Hall Annex was decorated in red and white and glories of 
flags, with the city seal over the entrance. The PubUc Library was 
treated with festoons of red, white and blue over the base of the front 
veranda and around the building at the second floor level. The front 
porch was draped with great flags between the columns. The Centre 
Fire Station, Pohce Station and some of the school buildings were simply 
decorated in red, white and blue. 

The interior of the Opera House was decorated entirely in nile green 
and white, with streamers extending from the cornice to the centre of 
the ceiling, with festoons on the gallery front and around the stage 
opening. 

Decorative electrical effects added much to the beauty of the occasion, 
at night. Festoons of electric hghts were placed across High, Salem, 
and Main Streets, extending several hundred feet from the Square. The 
City Hall was outlined with electric hghts, and the beauty of the scene 
in the Square brought thousands of people there in the evening to enjoy 
the effects of light and color. 

The chairman of the committee was also called upon to suggest and 
design other decorations, among them being the exterior of the Armory 
and the interior decorations for the banquet. 

Charles B. Dunham, 

Chairman. 



256 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON LOAN EXHIBITION. 

During the week of the celebration of the two hundred and seventy- 
fifth Anniversary, the Royall House, by the courtesy of the Royall House 
Association, and the Historical Rooms, by the kindness of the Medford 
Historical Society, were placed at the disposal of the Anniversary com- 
mittee on loan exhibit. A third exhibition was held at the Public Library 
building. 

Mr. Benjamin F. Fenton was chairman, and labored early and late 
planning and executing the work. He was supported by a good corps 
of active workers who co-operated with him. 

The regular furnishings of the Royall House which had no particular 
historic or artistic value were banished to the garret, leaving only the 
best of the collection on view. The vacant spaces were filled by beauti- 
ful mahogany furniture, some of it interesting as genuine examples of 
the handiwork of early makers, and some connected with Medford 
history. 

Rare china and pewter were shown in cases — the exhibit of pewter 
by Mr. Rodney G. Chase being especially fine. Four rooms were fur- 
nished to represent the drawing rooms and chambers of a colonial man- 
sion, and the cases containing relics were relegated as far as possible 
to the rooms of the least architectural interest. 

The slave quarters, through the kindness of the owner of the estate, 
were opened to visitors upon application. 

Among the most interesting articles displayed relating to Medford 
families were a few of the tiles which graced the fireplaces of the Royall 
House; Colonel Royall's sword; foils which belonged to his agent. Captain 
Jenks ; a copper tea urn on a Sheratan table, both owned by descendants 
of the Waitt family; a punch bowl given to Mr, John Howe by Captain 
Ward in recognition of the former's kindness to the captain's family 
when he was unable to reach Medford during the embargo of the war 
of 1812; plans of land on Winter Hill, Medford, drawn by Captain Peter 
Tufts, and relics of the Tufts and Adams families of the same neighbor- 
hood ; a chair formerly owned by Governor Brooks, long ago bought for 
a trifle from a woman who was using it for a wash bench ; another chair 
pronounced by an expert a genuine Chippendale of the master's best 
style. Mr. Arthur W. Wellington showed some very fine pieces of 
mahogany, including a chair said to have belonged to Governor Win- 
throp. 

This exhibit was in charge of those of the committee who were mem- 
bers of the Sarah Bradlee Fulton Chapter D. A. R. and their associates 
in the chapter, who acted as assistants. 



COMMITTEE REPORTS. 257 

At the Historical Rooms the exhibition was more local in character. 
The First Congregational Parish loaned their valuable and beautiful 
collection of ancient silver, some of it bearing dates before 1700, and in 
many cases inscribed with donors' names. This filled the principal 
case in one of the rooms. Near by was a wonderful clock, having only 
an hour hand, which came to Medford with the first by the name of 
Albree in this country, and is now the property of Mr. John Albree of 
Swampscott. With it were numerous other family relics. 

The swords of Captain Isaac Hall of the Minute Men of seventeen 
seventy-five and of Captain John Hutchins of the Minute Men of eight- 
een hundred sixty-one lay side by side. 

In the room where she was born, relics pertaining to Lydia Maria 
Child were shown. Portraits of her hung on the wall, one a young and 
beautiful girl, the other a woman in the strength of middle age. A 
watch, a manuscript book, autograph letters, a silk quilt on the tester 
bed had all been hers. 

In all the rooms were the pictured faces of the men of Medford in past 
generations; shipbuilders and mechanics, merchants, town officials. In 
the youth of many of the visitors, these men were the strength of the 
community. Many a returned son and daughter of the town, who had 
felt themselves strangers on the streets, felt at home as they looked at 
these many portraits. 

The kitchen was filled with utensils and implements of bygone house- 
keeping, grouped around the old-fashioned fireplace and mantel. 

At the Public Library building, books by Medford authors, paintings 
by Medford artists, portraits of prominent men and various articles of 
historic value supplemented the fine library of which the city is justly 
proud. This exhibit was under the care of Miss Mary E. Sargent, 
Librarian, and her assistants. 

The work of collecting and arranging these exhibitions and returning 
the loans to their owners was a task requiring great care and system. 
To insure perfect safety, day and night watchmen were on duty for two 
weeks, and the collections were insured against fire. A card catalogue 
with duplicate receipts to owners was planned by the chairman, Mr. 
Fenton, which worked successfully, and insured the safe return of all 
property. Everything except furniture and framed pictures was en- 
closed in locked cases. Every article shown was either owned in Med- 
ford or connected with' the history of the town. 

The various exhibitions, differing in character, attracted some 
to one place and some to another. About a thousand persons were 



258 TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

enthusiastic visitors at one or all of the three buildings under the 
charge of the committee. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Helen T. Wild, 

Secretary. 

REPORT OF the HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE. 

At several meetings held by this committee, many schemes were dis- 
cussed for the care of visitors who might attend the celebration. Notices 
were placed in the Medford papers asking for the names of parties who 
wished to entertain visitors. To these notices several responded, but, 
as it happened, none were called upon to serve in this capacity. 

It was voted at one of the meetings that guides be furnished to show 
visitors around during the anniversary, and, through the courtesy of 
Sup)erintendent of Schools Morss, twenty-four High School cadets in 
uniform, under the direction of Frank A. Kennedy, acted as guides. 

Through the courtesy of the Board of Aldermen, the committee was 
given the use of the aldermanic chamber at City Hall, where through 
the celebration two or more members were always present to meet vis- 
itors and furnish them whatever information they desired. A register 
was kept, in which the names of visitors from all over the United States 
appeared. 

Mr. John A. Papkee, of the Humane Emergency Staff, kindly offered 
his services on the day of the parade, which were accepted, but happily 
there was no need to call upon him. 

Through the kindness of Mr. Harry B. Ballou, many visitors were 
taken around the city in his automobile, which he very kindly offered 
to the committee for use during this time. 

David R. Harvey, 
Chairman Hospitality Committee. 

report of the committee on guides. 

In accordance with the request of the Committee on Hospitality 
twenty-four boys were asked to act as guides during Thursday, Friday, 
Saturday, and Sunday of Anniversary Week. In the uniform of the 
High School Cadets, the boys reported for duty in squads of six, each 
boy serving two half days. The work was lighter than was expected? 
so that very few had an opportunity to be of service. The names of 
the boys are: — 



COMMITTEE REPORTS. 



259 



Roy E. Carpenter, 
Walter G. Perry, 
H. Sumner Coday, 
Percy C. Charnock, 
Lester D. Cushman, 
Chandler Gififord, 
Charles D. Coe, 
Paul J. D. Haley, 



Harris B. Ryder, 
Edmund G. Brown, 
Ralph H. Robb, 
Leroy E. Oxnard, 
William J. McNeill, 
Edwin N. Cleaves, 
James H. Cleaves, 
Harold W. Blakely, 

Respectfully submitted, 

Frank A. Kennedy, 

Chief of Guides. 



Harold Benjamin, 
Carroll B. Webb, 
John W. Cosgrove, 
Bernard E. Gray, 
Richard G. Saville, 
Richard M. Dwyer, 
Erie S. Bacon, 
G. Prescott Fuller. 



REPORT OF THE MUSIC COMMITTEE. 

Though some of the committee were prevented by business and social 
engagements from taking active part in the musical preparations, a 
sufficient number attended the meetings to deal efficiently with the com- 
mittee's tasks. A few days after the general meeting in Tufts Hall, 
April 13, 1905, the committee met to formulate general plans. 

The committee decided to recommend: — 

1. Orchestra of eleven for Literary Exercises. 

2. Orchestra of eleven for the Banquet. 

3. A Mihtary Band day and evening for June 17, with extra Band 
and Drum Corps for the parade. 

4. A Military Band for a general meeting on Sunday evening, pro- 
vided such meeting could be held in a tent, permitting the attendance 
of a large concourse of citizens. 

5. A chorus of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred singers, 
to render appropriate selections at the Sunday evening meeting; the 
same chorus to participate in the Literary Exercises, if those were also 
held in a great auditorium. 

With these plans in mind, preliminary arrangements were made with 
managers of bands and orchestras, and an ample list of names of singers 
was prepared, chiefly through the efforts of Mrs. Edward W. Hayes and 
Miss Adelaide S. Herriott. 

It became probable, however, as the plans of the Executive Committee 
developed, and as the reports of the Finance Committee came in, that 
the providing of necessary funds for such a musical program would 
involve a serious deficit. The committee, therefore, with reluctance, 
abandoned the last two features of its scheme; or, rather, modified them 
to a plan for a small chorus of singers from Medford choirs and an 



26o TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 

orchestra of eleven, to furnish music for the ReHgious Exercises to be 
held in the Opera House. 

Due mention is made of the musical features in the reports of the 
committees respectively in charge of the several events of the celebra- 
tion. The chairman takes this occasion to express his thanks to the 
members of the Tufts College choir for assistance at the Literary Ex- 
ercises, and to the members of Medford choirs who, under the eflScient 
leadership of Mr. William E. Crosby, rendered selections at the Religious 
Exercises of Sunday evening. The names of the participants appear 
in full in the press reports of these occasions. 

The chairman wishes also to recognize gratefully the co-operation 
of members of the Executive Committee. But for the active assistance, 
so readily and efl&ciently rendered, the chairman would certainly have 
lamentably failed to meet the requirements of this celebration and the 
almost coincident celebration of the Semi-Centennial of Tufts College. 

Leo Rich Lev^^is, 

Chairman. 



report of the treasurer. 
Following is the report of the treasurer of the Executive Committee: — 

Dr. 
To cash received from contributions, and admis- 



sions to loan exhibits 




$2,462.12 


Cr. 




' 


i'aid Music Committee, 


$48.50 




Decorations Committee, 


225.00 




Contingent Expenses, 


342.42 




Banquet Committee, 


255-00 




Hospitality Committee, 


7.00 




Press Committee, 


86-45 




Printing Committee, 


53-25 




Historic Sites Committee, 


101.31 




Loan Exhibit, 


372-37 




Invitation Committee, 


179.48 




Athletic Committee, 


268.33 


$1,939.11 






$523.01 




Walter F. Cushing, 






Treasurer. 



COMMITTEE REPORTS. 261 

REPORT OF THE AUDITOR. 

I hereby certify that I have examined the Treasurer's accounts to 
November 3rd, 1905, and find the same to be correctly cast, with proper 
vouchers on file, and the balance of $523.01 is correct. 

Charles H. Loomis, 

Auditor. 
Medford, November 3rd, 1905. 



November 3rd, 1905. 

At a meeting of the Executive Committee held this evening, the fol- 
lowing votes were passed : 

Voted that the proceedings of the celebration of the 275th anniversary 
of the settlement of Medford be published by the Executive Committee. 

Voted that a special committee of five, to be appointed by the chair- 
man of the Executive Committee, take charge of the work. 

Voted that the balance of the money raised by subscription and not 
used be turned over to said committee to be appointed. 



